All Over Again: A Hunger Games Story
by LiliaSparks
Summary: This is a story about Peeta, Katniss, and Gale's kids and their adventures. What would happen if they, too, were tossed into the dreaded Hunger Games after the Capital rebels took over Panem?
1. Reunion

Chapter 1

I can't believe I'm here. I can't believe I'm here. That's my chant.

I can't believe that my parents could have the nerve to take me to the disgusting District 12! I mean, sure, take the phone, take the laptop, but take spring break? Come on! It just seems wrong!

So here I am. District 12. Whoopee. So excited I can't even contain myself. (For all you idiots out there, that was a little something I call sarcasm. One of my many talents.)

First of all, my name is Aster. Aster Hawthorne. Yes, the daughter of Gale Hawthorne. But I have a mom too, you know. Everyone's always like "Oh she's Gale's daughter!" No. I'm the daughter of Gale and _Lira_ Hawthorne. So get it right.

I'm nothing like either one of my parents. I have red hair and blue eyes that neither of my parents have. Some people say I'm half Gale, half Lira, all me. That doesn't make any sense to me, like, at all, but whatever. At least I'm "all me".

You might be wondering why on earth I would possibly be in District 12 with my dad. Well, there was this party a few months back. It was a New Year's party. My parents didn't want me to go because they didn't want me out that late. So what did I do? I snuck out. Duh. And of course, my parents found out and I got in big trouble. Blah, blah, blah. Same old, same old. But it was SO worth it.

My punishment was no phone or laptop for a month. But I knew they were hiding something. I mean, give me a break! Sneaking out of the house, therefore directly disobeying my parents does not equal no phone or laptop for a month. That equals serious punishment. Like making me go with Dad to District 12…

I have to say, District 12 is not what I expected, and I don't mean that in a good way. I thought that after 20+ years they would've pulled themselves out of the ditch. Doesn't seem that way to me. Looks like they just got bombed 3 months ago! Old broken-down buildings line the roads. Dad points out different places he used to go.

There was his friend Delly Cartwright's house. That's where he used to live. There's where we would stay with my grandmother. There's the old baker's shop. That was where his friend Peeta used to live. I recognize that name. Peeta Mellark. Oh. Wait. That was who we were visiting. Wonderful. Victor of the 74th Hunger Games. That would mean I would also be meeting his counterpart, Dad's friend Katniss. Katniss Everdeen Mellark. Great.

Dad leads me through a throng of people. He waves to some. He leads me down an old beaten-down road towards a pleasant patch of houses. 12 of them. It doesn't seem like those houses got bombed at all. Oh, wait. That would be the Victor's Village.

I see a lady walk out of one of the nicer house on the left. She has long dark hair. She looks up at Dad, drops the broom she was holding, calls into the house, and runs towards Dad. He smiles one of his real smiles that are almost always directed towards me. Suddenly, I feel a pang of jealousy. But I shake it off. This woman and Dad share important history. They were best friends for a long time.

"Gale!" she shouts.

"Katniss?" Dad guesses.

Right about now a man walks out of the house. His jaw drops.

"Gale! Is that really you?" the man calls.

Katniss reaches Dad and hugs him in some kind of death grip.

Now the man I'm guessing is Peeta walks down the front porch steps and starts walking towards his wife and old friend.

A girl who looks a little older than me runs out of the house to come to a fleeting halt on the porch. She stops so fast her dark hair billows out into her face. A boy comes running out behind her and runs smack into her, knocking her over. She picks herself up in indignantly. She turns to scold her younger brother, who has blonde hair and looks about my age even though he probably towers over me, but at that moment, Katniss turns around and yells back at her children, "Calla! Storm! Get over here to meet my old friend!"

The girl who must be Calla gets the hidden message; "Shut up. Be nice. Come here. NOW." I grin slightly as she sheepishly smiles at her mother.

"Coming!" she calls back. I'm surprised. Her voice is nice. Not too preppy, not too gruff, but just right for a nice girl.

The boy who I'm thinking has to be Storm stands up to his full height. Now I _know_ he towers over me.

Calla skips down the stairs and, hair flowing, runs to meet her mother and father.

"Gale," Katniss turns to Dad, "this is my daughter, Calla. Calla, this is my friend Mr. Hawthorne."

"Pleased to meet you Mr. Hawthorne!" Calla says, smiling at Dad.

"Mr. Hawthorne sounds way too formal. You can call me Gale, Calla," Dad laughs. "This is my daughter, Aster."

"Nice to meet you, Calla," I grin.

"You, too!" she smiles.

About this time, Storm makes his way over towards the reunion. He gives his mom a confused look and raises an eyebrow. Now I see he has dark eyes as opposed to his blue-eyed sister.

Katniss laughs at her son. Being serious now, she adds, "Storm, if you had gotten over here sooner, you would know who these people were. That's my friend, Gale," she looks at Dad, "and that's his daughter Aster," she nods toward me.

Storm quirks the side of his mouth playfully. "Nice to meet you."

Whoa. His voice is _really _deep.

"Calla's 16 and Storm's 14," Katniss tells Dad.

"Oh, Aster's 14, too!" Dad laughs.

I look at Dad for permission to leave. He nods at me and I take off back in the direction of Grandma's.


	2. The Reaping

DISCLAIMER: (I forgot to put this in Chap. 1. Don't kill me!) I don't own the Hunger Games seeing as my name is not Suzanne Collins.

Chapter 2

When Dad gets back home, it's really late. Like, 12:30 late. I've been waiting by the door since I unpacked which was 3 hours ago. I've been reading my book about kids that fly (which is quite interesting, don't get me wrong), but I just wasn't getting into it because Dad still wasn't home.

He looked tired, but happy to be here in 12. I dunno, maybe it'll grow on me. Dad says good night and walks upstairs to his room right next to mine. I sigh and get up; tomorrow's going to be a long day.

As I get in bed, a weird feeling comes over me, almost as if something's watching me. I shake it off and pull the covers over my head. Sleep soon finds little Aster Hawthorne.

In my sub-sleep (you know, when you're conscious of the things going on around you even though you're asleep), I hear a noise. It sounds like my window's being opened! Suddenly, the bed sheets are pulled away from me and I awaken in a dead panic. Sheer terror fills my body and I start to scream, but a hand is shoved over my mouth as I'm pulled out of my warm, comfy bed.

Kicking, punching, and screaming (or at least trying to) I'm shoved into some kind of bag and hauled out of my window, off of the roof and into some sort of vehicle. Someone kicks me and I black out.

When I awaken, I'm in a dimly lit room tied hand and foot to a chair. My mouth is gagged. From the little I can see, it looks like there is one other being in this cell-like place. I assume it's morning. Wait, that would mean today is the day of the reaping.

Contrary to popular belief, the Hunger Games still go on, just differently. You see, the Capitol is now split up into 13 districts. Children ages 12-18 are shipped off every year to their corresponding district. So the kids in the Capitol District 12 come to the actual District 12 to get reaped. With this new system, the actual districts still feel close to the tributes.

In my dank cell, I get rather bored, so I drift off again, until someone open the door at the top of the stairs that I never noticed. Two men come down those dreaded stairs and I'm shoved up the stairs into the bright light.

I hear a roaring crowd as I blink to get used to the light. When my eyes adjust I see that I'm standing on a stage. My bonds are gone and so is the rough man who pulled me up here in the first place.

Uh oh. This is the reaping stage in District 12.

"Female tribute from District 12 is… ASTER HAWTHORNE!" a voice booms.

Wait. I'm not even from 12. I'm from 2. Everybody knows that. So why am I… Oh, no. I'm in the Hunger Games.

Opposite me, I see a door open and to my surprise, Storm Mellark is shoved out of it. He looks as confused as I am.

"Male tribute from District 12 is… STORM MELLARK!" There's that voice again.

Storm sees me and gives me a questioning look. I shrug. I suddenly realize that this might not be joke. The Capitol rebels might have taken over the Hunger Games. I might be about to die.

I look out at the crowd and I see my dad. He looks so scared! I've NEVER seen him scared before. Now I really start to panic. Dad? Scared? No way! I mean, Mom gets scared, but Dad? Never.

I see Storm's parents, too. They look about ready to wither and collapse. Right. They've been on this stage before. They know what it's like.

I hear gunfire in the distance.

"Oh, dear!" a frilly little lady squeaks. She must be the escort, Effie Trinket's niece Camellia Frillipe. "I think it's time we leave! Thank you very much District 12!" she says in her squeaky voice.

Her last proposition brings an uproar of shouting that I really shouldn't repeat.

The two burly brutes grab me and Storm and jerk our hands behind our backs painfully.

"Hey!" I yell as I jerk my hands right back from him, "I'm not trying to get away! Stupid!"

The man looks taken aback, apparently not thinking I could talk let alone stand up to someone like him. He complies, but insists on walking so close behind me, he steps on my shoes every third step.

We're loaded into a train and put into two nice looking rooms. "Well, at least tributes are treated like royalty before they die," I think to myself.

I hold the necklace Dad gave me when I was 5. It has a little mockingjay charm on its silver chain. When I asked Dad why he bought this one in particular, he just said, "You'll get it when you're older." I fell in love with that necklace and I don't take it off except to shower and sleep.

As I held it, memories flood back into my mind, fresh, as if they had just occurred. I guess the dumbness of being chosen as tribute has worn off, so I start silently crying.


	3. Discussions

A/N: Thanks for the feedback! I didn't think I'd get that many hits in like 3 hours!

DISCLAIMER: I'm not Suzanne Collins.

Chapter 3

It's been about 15 minutes. I dry my eyes and wash my face. Then I change into a green long-sleeve shirt made out of a very soft, downy material and some simple brown pants.

As I walk into the hall of the train, I practically run into Storm. I look up at him, startled.

"Oh! Sorry," he says to me.

"No! It's my fault," I reply. "I should've looked where I was going."

"So, do you think our parents are gonna bust us out of this one? Or are we gonna hope the rules haven't changed since my parents won?"

"Wow. Don't be evasive or anything," I laugh. "If they don't 'bust us out', as you say, then I'm going with option 2, seeing as I don't want to be killed."

"Good point! Very good point," he nods back. "Who's our mentor? Or do we even have one?"

"Uh… Seeing as the mentors would all be Capitol people, I think we're on our own," is my reply.

"Okay then!" Storm claps his hands, "What can you do?" he asks me.

"Should we take this into my compartment?" I ask, warily checking the hallway.

"Yes we should," says Storm, hesitating slightly as if to ask why.

Once we stepped into my compartment, I sit down on my bed. "Well, first of all, I'm no girly-girl. I can throw a pretty decent knife, I'm okay with the bow and arrow thing, and I can throw a spear if it's not too heavy," I answer. "What about you?"

"Um… I know how to use a sword, and I can wrestle," he pauses, "Oh! And I can shoot with a bow and arrow."

"So you have your mom's talent?" I grin.

"Not exactly…" he smiles back. "You could say I'm half Mom, half Dad, all me!" he laughs.

"Hey!" I look up, surprised, "That's what people say I am!"

"Great minds think alike!" he quotes.

I roll my eyes. "Whatever!"

"Uhuh. That's not what you'll be saying in the middle of the Hunger Games," he says, suddenly going into reality and pulling me with him.

"Do your parents talk about it much?" I say in barely a whisper.

"Not really," comes the reply, "I mean, Dad has his 'moments' and Mom still wakes me up with her blood curdling screams, but they don't usually have to talk to communicate about that stuff. I only learned about it at school and even there the teachers tried really hard to 'protect' us from the reality of it all. I mean, come on! My own parents were involved in the war. My mom was the freaking face of the revolution!" His voice rises.

I let him calm down for a second. "Do you think we should stick together in the Arena?"

"Yes. I mean, as long as the rules haven't changed and two from the same District can still win," he says hastily.

I sigh. "I can't believe I'll be playing for 12. I mean, being from 2 and all, you would think that I'd be playing for them…"

"Yeah, I know what you mean. I'd be afraid of who was going from my actual district!" Storm laughs ruefully.

"I hope it's not my best friend, David," I say, suddenly scared for my friends.

"Well, there are a lot of kids in 2, right? What are the odds?" Storm calculates.

"The odds haven't been in my favor today…" My words sink into me. Odds. Strangely, I don't think the odds are what got me here. I think my family history had something to do with this.

"Hey, I think it's the kids whose parents were important in the war. I think they were the ones who got picked. You know, your parents, well your parents were really big in the war. My dad was on the All-star film team and my mom is Boggs' niece... So-" I get cut off by Storm.

"So that means that Lyssa will be there. She's Johanna Mason's daughter," he adds. "Do you know them?"

"Oh! No, I haven't met either of them, but I know my parents know or at least knew Johanna," I shrug.

"Well, Lyssa's a really cool girl. I really hope she didn't get reaped for 7…" Storm trails off and gets a faraway look in his eyes. I take this opportunity to think.

My name is Aster Hawthorne. I'm 14 years old. I'm from District 2. I'm in the Hunger Games. I'm playing for District 12 alongside Storm Mellark. I'm scared. I don't know what to do. I'm confused. I won't die… I hope… I might die… I probably will die… I know I'm going to die…

Storm comes out of his daze about the time I finish thinking. "So what's our strategy?" he asks me.

"Stay alive!" I chuckle ruefully.

"Seriously?" he groans.

"Okay, I say we grab what we can from the Cornucopia and run towards a wooded area. If they have one. Which they should…" I get lost in thought again and this time, Storm snaps me out of it.

"Aster?" Storm says in a tone so soft, it's barely audible.

"Yeah?" I reply, trying to mimic his tone.

"Promise me that one of us is going to live." Storm sounds kind of scared now. Great. Just what I need. A guy who just happens to be my partner who is like 5'8 as opposed to my 5'2 is scared. Whoopee.

"No, I'm not promising that," I reply, determined to sound strong.

"Why?" The million-dollar question…

"Because we're both getting out of there."

My name is Aster Hawthorne. I'm 14 years old. I'm from District 2. I'm in the Hunger Games. I'm playing for District 12 alongside Storm Mellark. I'm scared. I don't know what to do. I'm confused. I won't die… I hope… I might die… I probably will die… I know I'm going to die…

REVIEW PLEASE!


	4. Dinner and the Recap

**A/N: Come on, REVIEW!**

**Disclaimer: Do I **_**look **_**like Suzanne Collins to you? I don't own the Hunger Games… **

Chapter 4

After a while, Storm suggests we play a game to pass the time. I agree. I can't pass up a good game! We decide that every time you see a car, you yell a number (your number of points so if you've seen 3 cars, the next one you see will be "4") and punch your opponent.

This actually turns out to be a lot of fun! I'm beating him 47 to 39 when we pull to the station and we see a mass of cars. I yell a truce and he agrees; our arms have been sore since about "15".

I stand and move towards the door, but all of a sudden, I feel a hand on my arm. I look back at Storm.

"We should go out together. You know, so we look like a team and all," he says, looking away from me.

"Alright," I agree.

He offers me his hand and I take it as we walk out of my compartment and off of the train.

We're suddenly surrounded by a crowd of people, mostly reporters, as they try to get our interviews, pictures, and whatever other little tidbits they can catch.

Storm gives my hand a reassuring squeeze, but I don't feel better until I see Camellia. She motions for me to come, and I do so, grateful to be out of that mess.

Camellia is a bit of a nut. Her hair is lemon yellow. Her outfit consists of an azure blue cup-sleeve dress covered with medium sized yellow polka dots to match her hair, yellow strappy heels, and big chunky yellow accessories. She talks in this really squeaky voice that is really annoying at first, but you get used to it.

But the thing that I like most about her is that she's clueless. Most people would hate her for it, but that also means Storm and I can communicate things she doesn't need to hear with her sitting right in front of us…

Camellia hurried us to a car and we rode in silence to the Training Center. Once we got there, she showed us to our room on the 12th floor. District 12 wasn't the top anymore; District 13 got that honor, but I was happy. 13th floor being bad luck and all. (I wasn't about to admit of being afraid of heights…)

My room was nice. And that's really saying something coming from a girl who lives in the richest part of District 2. Camellia comes in and asks me for my token. I give her my necklace, making her promise that if it doesn't pass, she'll send it back to my dad.

When she leaves, I take a nice, long, hot shower. It feels amazing. An electric current is sent from my hand to my scalp, and my curly hair is perfectly parted, dried, and (thanks to genetics) perfectly naturally curled.

I collapse onto my bed and take a nap.

By the time Camellia knocks on my door to tell me it's time for dinner, I'm starving. I haven't eaten since this morning so I practically mow her down in my attempt to get the dining hall. She gives an airy little laugh and motions for me to follow her.

We go down to Storm's room. He has the same reaction I did, almost killing Camellia in the process. She gives him an indignant look ad turns away to walk towards the elevator.

His eyes get a weird look in them when she turns away, as if he recognizes that indignant look. For some reason, I do too. Then it hits me; that's the same look his sister Calla gave him when he knocked her down the first time I saw them. Was that really only yesterday? It feels to me as if years, decades, even centuries have passed since that meeting.

Storm turns to me with a wondering, slightly questioning look in his eyes and I get his message. I nod and mouth "Calla" to tell him that I, too, got the significance of that glance. A look of realization comes over him and he actually utters "Oh…" and nods his head.

Camellia glances over at us.

"Well, are you two coming, or not? It seemed to me like you were about to starve just a minute ago!" she pipes in her silly Capitol accent.

Storm and I race down to her. I have the sense to gain my composure about half-way down the hall and skip the rest of the way, trying to act grown-up yet still a kid the way Calla did, yesterday.

Camellia gives Storm a stern look as he, once again, bumps into her.

He looks so bewildered as we get onto the elevator that I have to stifle a laugh. Storm looks really funny with his left eyebrow raised and the bottom eyelid of his right eye partially closed.

When we get to the dining hall, I keep the mature/girly composure I obtained earlier (See? I even try to use my enhanced vocabulary that I learned from Dad's meetings!) as I sit all proper and junk. (There goes my enhanced vocabulary.)

An Avox asks me to pick a dinner from the menu. The menu has just about every great dish from all of the districts. Personally, I enjoy district 4's seafood the most, so I choose a shrimp entrée with french fries and ranch dip. I hate ketchup…

Avoxes nowadays aren't slaves that can't talk and get no pay. Those days went out with the old Hunger Games… Hm… Wonder if that'll change… Anyway, now Avoxes are paid personnel that serve as waiters for dinner parties and such. And yes, they can talk.

As I am eating at my place beside Storm, the recap of the Reapings comes on. I immediately feel sick to my stomach and have to push my dinner (which is very good by the way) away from me. The District 1 boy comes up and I gasp. It just so happens to be one of my nemesis (A/N: what's the plural of nemesis?), Titan.

Titan is this huge guy you wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley. He's about 6'4 with shaggy black hair and black eyes. He would be a seriously scary linebacker. He's not goth, but, man, he could _so_ pull it off. He's Cato's nephew; the son of Cato's sister. He's 16 but in my grade at school. Titan's from 2, but he goes to 1 for holidays so I guess that's why he got picked…

I don't know the girl from 2. She could have been Titan's twin, though. She looked to be about 5'6. Her name is Rilly. She has long black hair and, unlike Titan, blue eyes. She's 17.

I all but pass out as I see District 2's reaping. My best friend David is the male tribute and his girlfriend Chrysanthemum (Chryssi) is the girl.

David and I have been best friends since we were two. He's 5'9 with a lean build. He has light, true brown hair and brown eyes with yellow flecks. He's 14, like me. David is the son of Clove's brother.

Chryssi has been a good friend of mine, even before she and David started dating. She's really pretty for a 14-year-old. She is 5'5 with blonde wavy hair and blue eyes. She's Glimmer's niece.

After I get over that shock, I swallow my anger down and blunt the pain with concentration.

District 3 has two blondes by the names of Veize and Fysei who are the niece and nephew of Beetee. What stupid names!

District 4 has a shocker. Annie and Finnick's son Finn, who's 18, is chosen. He's the spitting image of his father. (A/N: Yes, Finn would be in his 30s but for this to work, he's gonna be 18.) The female tribute is a stupid-looking brunette who looks really bored as she shakes Finn's hand. She blows a bubble in her gum and walks away.

My jaw drops as the District 5 tributes are recapped. The male tribute is this idiot 15-year-old in my class in 2 named Riegan.

" Riegan?" Storm and I ask at the same time. We look at each other.

"Wait, how do you know Riegan?" he asks me.

"He's in my class at school. Why wouldn't I know him? My question is, how do _you_ know him?" I shoot back.

"Well, we've been pen pals for a long time. I thought he said he's dated every girl in the grade?"

"Not that baloney again! He doesn't consider me a girl because I'm not very feminine…" I laugh ruefully.

Storm's gaze travels to my chest and his face turns red.

I laugh at him. "Yeah, I pointed that out, but he won't believe me! And anyway, it would be weird dating him, 'cuz he's my cousin…"

"Oh! Yeah… I guess he's Boggs' grandson and your Boggs' granddaughter… Sort of…" he concentrates.

The girl from 5 is stereotype prep girl: blonde hair, blue eyes, fake smile, fake boobs, fake tan, 5'6ish, and dumb. I think her name is Em.

6 is pretty boring, producing twins, both 18, named Loorum and Kyla.

Storm was right about Lyssa getting reaped from 7. She's obviously adopted with her light, ash brown hair and green eyes. She's still taller than me though. And she's 15.

The boy from 7 is named Aerogan.

"Whoa," I find myself saying.

"What?" questions Storm.

"He's hot. With a capitol H." Wait, did _I _just say that? Oops. But it's so true. He looks like Prince Charming with abs. Talk about freaking hot.

"Wow," Storm laughs. "Guess I'll just have to kill him."

That killed the moment, so I shut up.

The boy from 8 is a 15-year-old named Hailand and the girl is Quassina who's 17.

9 is generic; two scared 16 year olds named Friely and Marsh.

District 10's tributes are named Rye and Sava. They're 16 and 14.

District 11 really scares me.

"It's like the 74th all over again," Storm says grimly.

The little girl from 11 is 12 years old. Her name is Kyli and she's Rue's niece.

The boy from 11 is 18. His name is Reke. Reke is Rue's oldest nephew. As these two shake hands, Reke whispers something into Kyli's ear. I wonder what it might be…

Then suddenly, we're onscreen. I notice they don't omit us being shoved out from the little building behind the stage. As the camera pans the crowd, I get teary-eyed; there's Dad.

I pull myself together as 13 starts. It's a fiendish looking pair with a glint of mischief in their eyes. Their names are Deggor and Soia. They're both 16.

As the recap ends, I feel my eyes tearing up, so I run to room and cry myself to sleep.

**Whew! That took me a while. (Kept getting distracted.) Hope you like it! REVIEW!**


	5. The Stylists

**A/N: Sorry it took me so long to post! I haven't had much time recently. Sigh. Well, anyway, here it is now! **

Chapter 5

I awake to Camellia knocking on my door telling me there's a "HUGE day" ahead of me. Pooh. I don't want a huge day. I want a boring day. The kind where you sit around doing absolutely nothing. The kind where you wake up early and just sit in bed because you can. The kind where you trudge around the house looking for something to do and end up staring outside and just thinking about what it would be like to be out there… Free… Free! Hmph. That is one thing I definitely am not. But I still like those days. Well, I'm not getting that.

I get out of my nice, warm bed and stumble into the bathroom, rubbing sleepy out of my eyes. I put my hands on the counter and take a gander at my appearance. Wow. Yeah. Shower time!

The hot water washes away my sleepiness along with a lot of hair (I still wonder why my hair is so thick) and soap bubbles. As I watch the last of the bubbles get swallowed up by the drain, my mind wanders to my present predicament.

"Okay. Game plan…" I say to myself. "Be strong, head high, tough girl, no emotion whatsoever… Alright. Good."

I dress in a fitted, 3-quarter sleeve sunrise orangey-pinkish-red shirt and jeggings. I put my hair in a low ponytail and tie a yellow ribbon in it. Then I don some strappy little comfortable silver sandals and head out the door.

As I step into the hall, I see Storm coming out of his room. He's wearing a boring black t-shirt and black pants with black shoes. Wow. Goth much? We ride down to breakfast in silence.

Once we're alone, he pulls me aside to a long table. I sit across from him "Hey, what was up with last night?" He looks worried. I decide to answer. Carefully.

"Yesterday was a long day… I guess whatever was numbing the pain went away, so…" He can fill in the rest.

Storm gets this cute little look of realization on his face and he nods.

"Yeah. It took everything I had not to break down last night…" he recalls.

"What are we doing today? Do you know?" I question him.

He just shrugs and nods over behind my left shoulder. Camellia comes and sits beside me and I finally see just what she's wearing.

She still has yellow hair, but the lilac dress she's donned is actually very attractive. It looks like the one she wore yesterday, just in a different color. I think it goes nicely with her hair which is twisted up on her head from the inside. She has little readers' with a cute chain to match her outfit (and hair). She happens to be sporting the same heels that she was wearing yesterday, but somehow, they look like completely different shoes! That's probably the reason she agreed to wear them.

"So! Today you're going to meet with your stylists and get ready for the parade tonight! That sound good with you two?" she smiles.

We both nod.

"Alrighty then! Go get some breakfast. They'll be here in 30 minutes!" Camellia stands and walks very quickly in the direction of the elevators.

Storm rises from his chair and holds out his hand to me.

"Care to join me?" I take it he means breakfast.

I make a show of getting out of my chair and pushing it in on my own.

"Sure," I grin.

He shrugs and walks toward the buffet, leaving me still at my chair.

Wow. You know, I can't seem to get him. I understand how most people work, but not Storm Mellark. He is one I have yet to figure out.

I roll my eyes and walk to the buffet, still beating him there in the process. (The buffet _was_ on my side of the table.)

I grab a plate and load it with eggs, bacon, some breakfast casseroles, and fruits. I take a glass of orange juice and head back to the table.

"So, I guess we're going for stuff ourselves so we have staying power?" Storm laughs as he watches me pack away what appears to be 3 portions of bacon in about 3 minutes flat.

"As opposed to?" I say around a mouthful of bacon.

"Eating nothing to give us an edge," he replies. "And don't talk with your mouth full. What would Camellia say?"

I roll my eyes and keep chewing. This is really good bacon.

"Wait, why would we need staying power?" I ask, confused?

"Well, Mom told me a story about her prep team and stylist. Apparently girls get all of their body hair waxed off on Day 1," he grins evilly at me.

My mouth drops open before I realize there's still food in it. Storm wrinkles his nose and turns away before I remember and close my mouth to swallow.

"Sorry. But _all _of our body hair?" I make a horrified face and look into the distance.

"Yup! They don't do too much to the guys though. Make sure they don't grow facial hair during the Games, but that's about it…" Storm ponders. "What could they do to me, anyway? I'm beautiful just as it is!" he smiles.

I give him my "I am not amused" face and he snaps out of his daze.

"What? I am beautiful!"

"My question is, what happens if girls are on their period? What happens then?" I ask.

Storm makes an "eww" face. "Honestly, I don't care. Wait, are you going to be on yours?" he adds, looking rather freaked out.

"Nope! Thank goodness for that!" I sigh in relief as I finish my plate.

Just then, Camellia comes in to tell us it's time to meet our stylists.

We walk out of the dining room to a waiting area where a couple of other tributes sit, huddled in little groups, waiting for their stylists. Camellia escorts us to an unoccupied corner of the room and tells us to wait there until the prep teams for the stylists Merelda and Acada arrived.

Storm and I watch as prep teams come in and call for different districts, always in order, so we know we are going to be two of the last four in here.

Finally, our prep teams show up. I have to blink to make sure they're actually real. Capitol people aren't as funny looking as they used to be, but they still look funny to me.

My prep teams is made up of two women and a man. The ladies' names are Fawna and Dyra and the man is Fyero (A/N: Yes, like in Wicked, though I think that spelling is Fiero…)

Dyra is a little on the short side with pixie bobbed lime green hair swished to one side, aqua eyes, a rounded sort of face, and a cute smile. She's very slender for her height.

Fawna is taller than Dyra, but pretty much average. She has deep purple tresses falling halfway down her back that she messes with in her subconsciousness. I think she dyed it to match her eyes of the same color. Her face is more oval with a down-to-earth look about her, unlike Dyra with her cutesy little fairy look.

Fyero is the weirdest of them all I have to say. First of all, I think he's gay. He talks like a girl, acts like a girl (ahem, he was my – a girl - st

Storm was so right; right now I feel so much pain! Never have I felt every hair on my leg being ripped off at one time! It is pure agony, but I grit my teeth and get through it, somehow.

Once they finished with all of my bodily hair, they go into makeup faze. Dyra and Fawna somehow transform my face to a beautiful masterpiece in like 3 seconds. Fyero stands back and watches for the first part, making comments on what they should do. When my prep team finally seems satisfied with my look, they call in Acada.

Acada isn't exactly what I pictured. He's no Fyero, but actually a normal looking guy who could actually be from my home district. Wow. Not expecting that one.

Acada just sorta paces around my body for a while. (I only have a bra and underwear on at this point. Um… Awkward?) When he finally speaks, his voice surprises me too, and I jump a little. He laughs and repeats what he said.

"You have a very nice figure."

"Oh, well, thank you," I reply, kinda stunned.

"I think the dress I have will be perfect for tonight. Let me go and get it." He walks briskly out of the room and I'm in silence for a 2 minutes.

As he reenters, Acada tells me to shut my eyes. I oblige.

"Hold your hands above your head for me, Aster," he says to me.

As I do, I feel a soft fabric go over my head and onto my shoulders.

"You can open your eyes now."

I eagerly do so and find myself in the most beautiful dress I have ever seen. It is a white dress that's fitted until my true waste, where it puffs out with lots of tulle. But the dress isn't just white. It's adorned with red, orange, yellow, and white feathers and tiny beads that I later discover are pearls.

I get it; I'm on fire.

**READ AND REVIEW! **Please?


	6. The Big Parade

**A/N: I'm back! I'm on spring break right now so I might get in a couple more chapters sometimes this week. Sorry about the extra long and slightly boring chapter. I just kinda had to explain some stuff. Hope this one makes it up to you guys!**

I do a few twirls in my dress a few times before Acada and I have to go meet the rest of our crew that now consists of Camellia, Acada, Merelda, Fyero, Dyra, Fawna, and Storm's prep team (Cille, Rezz, and Kole).

As I enter the atrium where Storm and I were to meet up, I see Storm. My tummy does this little flip-flop and it kinda weirds me out. He looks… BEAUTIFUL! No, handsome. Yeah. That's what I meant. No, I don't have a crush on him. Nope. Not even a tiny bit. But he does look really good. He's in a white tux with fire-colored accents (like my feathers and beads, but these I really couldn't place.) that bring out his dark eyes and sturdy white shoes.

We walk together to the chariot room. I find ours. Wow. I must say those are really pretty horses. They're two identical midnight black stallions with sleek black manes. Storm looks taken aback.

"What?" I laugh at him.

"I forgot about the whole horse pulls carriage deal," he says, still looking the pair of horses over warily.

"I would think you of all people would remember," I chuckle.

He gets this faraway look so I shut up.

A figure makes his way towards us and I see it's Riegan. Darn. Thought I could avoid him. Crap.

"Aster! Wassup?" he flashes one of his winning grins at me.

"Well, I was fine until someone walked over here. Wonder who that might be? Oh, yeah. That's you," I snap.

"Aster," Storm comes up behind me and gives me a warning look.

"Oh, hey Storm! Long time no see!" Riegan and Storm do this weird hand-shaky type thing.

"How long how you guys known each other?" I ask warily.

"I guess about 12 years," Storm replies.

"Mmhmm," I nod.

I think Storm says something, but I'm too distracted to hear it because another figure swoops up behind and tries to touch my butt. Not cool.

"What do you want, Titan?" I glare up at him.

"Only you, sweetie," he grins down at me.

"Well, sorry! You're not getting it," I say firmly.

"Oh, I think you'll change your mind soon enough," he says in the same smooth tone.

"Get a life, Titan," I say through gritted teeth.

"Oh, I'm the only one of us here in this room who's still gonna have one after these next few weeks play out," he says evenly.

"Oh, yeah? Then I'll make sure to take yours personally," I snap back.

I feel a hand on my arm and realize half of the room is watching this conversation.

I whip around (and in the process, whip my hair in his face) and storm off back to our carriage.

"What's that all about?" Storm asks me in a quiet tone.

"Long time enemies," I say simply.

Storm looks like he's about to say more, but Camellia rushes us up onto the carriage while Acada and Merelda do some last-minute work.

"Okay, close your eyes!" Acada yells to us above the roar and general hubbub of the room. "Oh, hold hands!" he remembers.

Suddenly, I'm glowing! The tulle of my dress is floating in the air and somehow making its way to the back of the dress and becoming flames, leaving me with a white, plain-looking dress and flames coming out of the back.

Storm stares at me in awe but then he's aflame too! He offers his hand and I take it.

Acada places something on my head while Merelda does the same on Storm's. It's a crown of flame.

Then, we're out of the room and into the circle. There's a hush over the crowd for about 3 seconds and then a roar that's 30 times as loud as back in the chariot room ignites from all around us.

I look up and see my dazzling face next to Storm's on a big screen. I smile and start waving with my free hand and Storm catches on and does the same.

As we make the turn around the big bend in the parade route, a fresh new wave of fans cheer us on. This encourages me somehow.

I sneak a glance up at the screen again. Oh. My. Gosh. Storm is flipping HOT… I didn't just say that. You did not hear me say that. Nope. Of course not. Because I don't have a crush on Storm Mellark.

I continue my waving frenzy for another few minutes before our carriage/chariot/thingy comes to a halt in the circle where another screen lies.

During the Panem anthem, the cameras are supposed to flick back and forth between tributes, but this time, they mostly stay on us.

The President doesn't give her usual speech. I wonder about that for a moment until I realize that these Games weren't supposed to work like this.

The anthem ends and the tributes are carted back off into the chariot room.

Storm gets off and offers me his hand until he realizes he's still holding my other one. I guess I kinda forgot about the whole hand-holding deal.

He grins at me as I step off the chariot.

"What?" I ask him, mildly confused.

"You looked really hot out there. You should really wear flames more often. They suit you. The hair helps too," he says.

At first, I'm kinda taken aback. Storm thinks I'm hot? He likes my hair? He thinks I should wear flames?

"Well, I must say, you looked pretty hot yourself," I find myself grinning back.

Did I just say that? Am I an idiot? He's gonna think I'm some desperate little girl who is head-over-heels for him. Which I most certainly am not.

We say our goodnights and head off to bed. I change quickly and shower.

The flames must have gone out as we entered the chariot room because there is no trace of them now. I assume it was the same fire Cinna and Portia used on Storm's parents like 30 years ago. Wow.

I practically fall into my nice, warm bed and fall asleep as soon as I hit the pillow.


	7. An Interesting Breakfast

**A/N: PLEASE REVIEW! THAT'S ALL I ASK! COME ON PEOPLE! Oh, and I don't own the Hunger Games, yaddah, yaddah, yaddah. One more thing: a scene in this chapter is one of the reasons this is rated T.**

_Aster's POV_

I awaken to Camellia banging on my door, telling me I have one hour to get myself ready for training. I sigh and stumble to the bathroom.

As I observe my face in the mirror, I notice that in last night's daze, I did not even try to get the conditioner out of my hair. So reluctantly, I get back into the shower and end up re-bathing anyway.

I must say, the electric current is very helpful. No fooling with brushes for this girl! I put on comfortable jeans and a gray t-shirt and walk to the elevator where I meet Storm. I notice he's wearing the exact same outfit as me… That's weird…

_Storm's POV_

Camellia's banging on my door again this morning just like she did yesterday. Dang. Can't that lady let me sleep 30 more minutes? Guess not.

And I was having the best dream! Aster and I won and then we fell in love and got married. And shoot me if she didn't have the most beautiful wedding gown I've ever seen. Not that I've seen very many. And not that I have a crush on Aster. Cuz I don't. Nope. Not at all.

I finally decide to get out of bed about 10 minutes later. I get into the shower and THEN I realize my clothes are still on.

"Gah!" I mutter as I strip my clothes. I throw them out of the shower in a wet bundle that splats to the floor.

After I finish bathing myself, I stand in the shower for another 10 minutes just for the warmth. We don't have this at home. I mean, our house is nice, but not as nice as in the Capitol.

I get out of the shower and find some jeans and a gray shirt to wear. I've learned from my parents; you don't have to look nice in the Hunger Games.

As soon as I dress, I walk out of my room and to the glass elevator. Oh, hey look – it's Aster. And she's wearing a brown shirt and jeans just like me. And she's giving me the same look that I'm pretty sure I'm giving her.

We ride down in silence, the only noise is that of the elevator whirring us quietly down to our sure demise. Oh great. Now I'm sounding like Calla when she's narrating her life. And let me tell you, that, my friend, is the most annoying thing you'll ever hear in your life.

Except maybe the time that she was obsessed with this song from her favorite TV show (Regular Show). Urgh! I think it was called Summer Time. Actually, I know it was called Summer Time, because that was practically the only part you could make out. The rest she kinda mumbled under her breath.

But I'm getting side tracked.

As soon as the elevator door opens, I get off. I make to run towards the buffet, but Aster clears her throat and gives me a warning look. I sigh and walk over to my breakfast. Suddenly, I know why she made me stop; all of the other tributes (or at least most of them) are already there. And almost all of them are bigger than me. So that means that Aster will be one of the smallest. For a fourteen year old, 5'2 is pretty small compared to my 5'9.

I sense her sudden nervousness and offer her my hand. She seems taken aback for a moment, but then hesitantly takes it. We get our food and I lead her over to sit by Finn, Lyssa, and Riegan.

"Morning," I say as I sit down next to Riegan. Aster takes the seat next to Lyssa and they begin to talk quietly.

"You ready to train?" Riegan asks grimly.

"I don't think I have a choice," I reply.

"You have a very good point," Riegan nods in approval.

He lowers his voice. "Aster doin' alright?" He nods in her direction.

I look over at her, too. She seems to sense it and turns to look at me. We make eye contact for a second. She raises one eyebrow at me. I slightly shake my head that it's nothing. She nods okay and turns away again. Wait. That was weird. We can sorta like communicate? Alright. That might come in handy.

"Yeah. Why do you ask?" I turn back to Riegan.

"Well, ya know," he shrugs, "we were really good friends in middle school. Just kinda drifted apart this year…" He trails off and looks into the distance like he's remembering something.

"Really?" I sit back in my chair, stunned. "She acted like she's always hated you."

"Yeah, well, let's just say I wasn't the greatest friend this year," he grins sheepishly.

Suddenly, I feel defensive. "What did you do?" I ask with an accusing hint in my voice.

"She was getting picked on the first day of school because she's short and I did nothing about it," he sighs. "I tried to apologize like 8 times, but she blew me off."

"Oh," I say simply.

I see who I guess are the tributes of 2 walk in. When they get their food, they walk over to us. The boy sit beside Finn (I feel guilty now that we left him out of our conversation) and the girl sits on the unoccupied side of Lyssa.

Conversations resume and I turn back to Riegan.

"So, you're telling me you still want to be friends with Aster?"I ask him.

"Yes. Yes I am," he replies firmly. "I did something stupid and I want to fix it."

Lyssa and Chryssi stand up to go get more food.

I'm about to reply when something in my peripheral vision catches my eye. I turn and am stunned to see Titan walk up behind Aster, slap her behind, and then put his hands onto her… Um… Breasts… Suddenly, a pang of fire runs through me and I abruptly stand, practically knocking over my chair. Aster seems to be struggling to get out of his grip.

"Get your hands off of her!" I snarl.

"Why should I?" he purrs back. Now he sits around her so she's sitting in between his legs. Aster lets out a distressed sound as she tries to rip his hands off of her.

David is on his feet now. "Because we say so," he says menacingly.

"And tell me, why should I pay attention to you?" Titan snaps.

"Because I know some of your deepest, worst secrets," says Riegan, who's now on his feet.

"Tell 'em. What do I care?" he says smoothly.

"Well, seeing as you're supposedly going to win, all of Panem will know." Finn gets to his feet.

"They don't broadcast what goes on back here," Titan says evenly. He's now massaging Aster's… Um… What I said earlier. I can see she's struggling even more.

"You never know," I say. I turn to Riegan, Finn, and David and nod.

We all rush to the other side of the table. Riegan and Finn, being the biggest, grab Titan while David and I get Aster. Suddenly it's all over and Aster is in my arms bawling. Titan's on the floor wrestling with Riegan. Finn and David are trying to pull them apart.

I try to console Aster, and finally, after about 5 minutes, she stops crying. She looks up at me and for the first time, I see pure fear in her eyes. It scares me to death to see this strong girl scared of Titan. And she's not just scared. She's terrified.

The guys on the floor have finally been pulled apart. Their breath is coming in ragged heaves. I can tell that Riegan won. He has a triumphant look on his face as David pulls him back to the table. Finn is standing next to Titan, giving him the death stare.

Camellia comes in and immediately notes a problem. Aster is in my arms, her head against my now soaked gray shirt.

She ushers me and Aster out of the room and tells me to go change.

"Are you okay?" I murmur in Aster's ear.

"I'll be fine," she whispers shakily.

I hug her one last time as we part.

"Be out in 30 minutes," Camellia whispers to me. She takes Aster by the hand and leads her down to her room.

I go to my room and strip my shirt. As soon as I do, however, I hear a knock at my door. I abandon my shirt and answer the knock. It's Aster. Her face tells me all. I open the door wider and let her in. She perches on the edge of my bed (which I notice is now magically made for me). I grab another shirt from my dresser and sit next to her.

"So, what is it?" I ask her as I sit.

"I wanted to thank you for standing up for me back there," she says quietly.

"Did you think I was just going to sit there and let him do that to you?" I ask her incredulously.

"Well… I didn't know if you'd care enough…" She trails off and looks away.

"Of course I care!" I tell her. She looks back at me and her eyes are filled with the same fear as before. "Oh, Aster," I say.

I hold out my arms and she wraps her arms around my middle. For the first time, I feel this tingling feeling wherever she touches me. Huh. That's weird. Whatever.

I look down at her right as she looks up.

"Why are you so afraid of him?" I ask her in barely a whisper.

"Because… He's a lot bigger than me and I know if he tried to… Do… _That_… To me… I know I couldn't stop him…"

"I'll be there for you. Okay? You'll be fine," I tell her with a lot more confidence than I feel. That must be scary for a girl. To know that some creeper has it out to get you and knowing you can't do anything about it. Wow. That's hard stuff.

She's seems to have regained her composure and lets her hands fall to her sides. I take that as my cue to stop holding her head against my chest and follow her example.

"Why do you care? About me, I mean. We don't hardly know each other!" she laughs a little.

"Well, we're gonna be stuck in an arena for like 2 weeks and I figure I should treat my partner well. And the fact that he was being a total jerk and I seriously was thinking about killing him," I say thoughtfully.

"You were?" Aster laughs back.

"Yeah. By the way you really scared me back there," I tell her seriously.

"What?" She's serious now, too.

"Right after Finn and Riegan pulled him off of you. I picked you up and when you looked up at me, you looked really scared," I have to look away from those blue eyes. I think they're staring into my soul… Wait. When did I start noticing girls' eye color? I can't remember what half the girls in my class at school look like, much less the color of their eyes.

"Oh, that…" She trails off. When I turn back to her, she's staring out of my window. "Well, I really didn't know what to think. I still don't. I mean, the problem was, it felt good… But I didn't want it to, you know?" I can tell by the way she looks at me, she probably wouldn't have told that to just any random guy. Maybe to one of her close girlfriends. Definitely not her own parents. She really must trust me. So I'll trust her.

We sit in silence for about 5 minutes until she gets up to leave. "I think I'll go change shirts… And bras… And if I could get a new set of boobs, I would do that too.

I cringe at that word. Ew. Ick. Urgh. Gag. Aster notices and laughs at me. "You're jst like my dad!" she laughs. "Oh, and by the way, nice abs." She laughs on the way out the door and gives my chest a look. Oh. Oops. Forgot to put the shirt on.

"You like 'em?" I raise my voice a little so she can hear me out of the room.

"They're a nice touch, I must say!" She sticks her head back into my room. "Though I will say you're being a little Alex Pettyfer-ish walking around your room with no shirt on just 'cuz you have abs."

"Who's Alex Pettyfer?" I ask in mild amusement.

"This movie star in Old Panem. He was in a bunch of movies where he had his shirt off for scenes at a time…" she recalls.

"Well, was he hot?" I prompt.

"Yes. Very," she says back with a matter-of-fact expression.

"Well, in that case, I'll happily be called Alex Pettyfer-ish."

**READ AND REVIEW! Did you like it? TELL ME!**


	8. Tributes List NOT ACTUAL CHAPTER

**I decided to put this up to halt any further confusion about who was who.**

**Tributes List**

D1B – Titan 16

D1G – Rilly 17

D2B – David 15  
D2G – Chryssi (Chrysanthemum) 14

D3B – Veize 15

D3G – Fysei 15

D4B – Finn 18  
D4G – Zillia 13 

D5B – Riegan 15  
D5G – Em 17 

D6B – Loorum 18  
D6G – Kyla 18 

D7B – Aerogan 16

D7G – Lyssa 15

D8B – Hailand 15  
D8G – Quassina 17 

D9B – Friely 16  
D9G – Marsh 16 

D10B – Rye 16  
D10G – Sava 14 

D11B – Reke 18  
D11G – Kyli 12 

D12B – Storm 15  
D12G – Aster 14

D13B – Deggor 16  
D13G – Soia 16

**This is a list from youngest to oldest of all of the tributes, so you know where they stand.**

Kyli

Zillia

Aster

Sava

Chryssi

Hailand

Veize

Lyssa

Fysei

David

Storm

Riegan

Soia

Marsh

Rye

Friely

Aerogan

Titan

Deggor

Em

Quassina

Rilly

Loorum

Kyla

Reke

Finn


	9. KnotTying and Camouflaging

**A/N: I got a little carried away with that last chapter. Yes, it was a tad too much… But that's why it's TEEN people! I'll try to move a bit faster as we get into the Games. I've found that writing in Storm's POV is actually a lot of fun. **

**READ AND REVIEW!**

Chapter 8

_Aster's POV_

Well that was an odd conversation. Storm has really nice abs… Not that I was staring at them or anything. Not that I was even looking at them for that matter. I guess I interrupted him changing. Dang. I should try not to do that. Mental Note: Do NOT interrupt guys while they are changing clothes. Okay. Got it.

I change pretty quickly into my awesome froggy bra and a green t-shirt. As an afterthought, I decide to change jeans, too. It's the same jeans; just a different pair. With nothing else to do, I check my hair in the bathroom mirror. Looks fine to me, though I do try to flatten some of the wisps of hair that plague my otherwise nice head of auburn-red, curly hair.

I head downstairs after putting some sparkly pins in my hair. Storm comes downstairs about 5 minutes after me. He shoots me a smile and walks over to where I am standing.

"I forgot to ask. What did Camellia say to you?" he asks.

"She asked what happened, but I didn't tell her much," I tell him.

"Good. If she knew, she'd freak," he answers.

"My exact thinking," I agree.

Right then, the doors to the Training Center open to reveal a large room, covered in stations with different weapons. I'm immediately drawn to the large, expensive, amazingly shiny knife collection, but I catch myself. I have to do what Storm's parents did: stay away from weapons of strength.

"What are you good with?" I murmur to Storm out of the corner of my mouth.

"Hand-to-hand, bow-and-arrow, and spears," he murmurs back, catching my intention. "You?" Wow. He figured out my master plan? Impossible! But then again, I'm copying _his_ parents…

"Knives, bow-and-arrow, darts, so-so with spears, and general stealth," I grin.

"So what do you say we do some knot-tying?" he looks down at me.

"I say that sounds like a plan." We're about to walk over to that station, when the Head Gamemaker, Diara Witherstone, stand on a small wooden platform and clears her throat.

"We would like to inform all of our tributes here today that this is the _only_ day in the training room, due to time restraints. Please use that time wisely," Diara says in a firm voice. "Tomorrow at noon, you will have your evaluation in front of the Gamemakers. Are we clear?" She clasps her hands together in front of her waist and looks around the circle of tributes, waiting expectantly for any idiots to raise their hand with a question. Her plain brown ponytail swishing in the momentum of her turning.

Seeing no one with questions, she dismisses us to go to the stations. As planned, Storm and I walk over to the knot-tying station and, as usual, no one's there. The trainer looks up at us, squints for a moment, and then has a light-bulb moment. His eyebrows shoot up and he smiles at us. No clue why, but I guess it happens to old people.

So I spend an hour tying knots. I got a review on the ones Dad taught me, and I learned a few new good ones. I casually look over at Storm's progress on one of the more challenging knots. Whoa. Not expecting him to be any good at knots. Seems to me that he is. Well, his mom was a knot fanatic during the war. She and that Finnick dude… Gosh…

Speaking of Finnick, I haven't seen Finn or David or Chryssi or Riegan or Lyssa… Or Titan… Since this morning. I do a 360 of the room and see Riegan taking down some little trainer man in the wrestling station, Finn throwing tridents (no surprise there), Lyssa camo-ing herself, David and Chryssi are throwing spears together, and Titan's taking another trainer dude down in hand-to-hand sword fighting.

Storm notices I'm looking around and mimics me. He sees that hot Aerogan guy and rolls his eyes.

"Are you just trying to mock me?" he asks, not looking very amused.

"I wasn't even looking at him!" I say indignantly, "I was watching Finn…" I trail off evasively.

"Then how'd you know who I was talking about?" he smirks.

"You're _sooo _predictable!" Now it's my turn to roll my eyes.

"No I'm not!" he scoffs.

"Yes, you are!" I say… At the exact same time as the trainer dude… He grins sheepishly at us.

"You're exactly like your parents," he tells Storm, looking very serious. It takes all I have not to crack up, but I hold it in. Storm looks disgruntled, and after another 5 minutes of making a knot, he stands up.

"You know, I think we should test our knowledge on edible plants," he says matter-of-factly. Then he just leaves. I smile at the trainer.

"Thanks," I tell him sincerely before I set off to catch up with Storm, who's still smoldering about the parental comment.

The rest of training goes pretty smoothly, with one incident where Aerogan and Titan get into a cold war of sorts, where each of them is trying to outdo the other weight lifting. They're evenly matched up to 200 lbs. Then at 201, Aerogan starts falling behind in his quickness. He loses at 293 lbs. By then, most of the tributes are gathered to watch. Just for show, Titan grabs the 350 pound weight and tosses it in the air, catching it in a not so graceful arc. Lyssa ushers Aerogan out to get air.

Reke from 11 gives Titan the evil eye, then takes Kyli by the hand and walks to the camo station. Finn and his district partner (Zillia is her name) turn in disgust and return to their fencing lesson.

The others disperse and, like I said, nothing much else happened. At the end of the training session (by which time Aerogan had returned looking ready to kill), Diara tells us to rest up, as tomorrow will be the interviews. Woohoo. So pumped.

Camellia hurries us to floor 12. She leaves us to go to a sponsor meeting or something like that.

"Night," Storm turns to me.

"Night," I say back. Then something really weird happens: he kisses me on the cheek. Just a little peck, but it was enough to catch me off my guard and leave me standing there smiling like an idiot. He grins at me and turns to his room.

As soon as I clear my head, I turn to my room and fall asleep holding my cheek like some sentimental fool. Gosh, why am I so stupid?

**Did you like the bit of fluff at the end? Tell me. REVIEW! Please? Oh and I wanted to tell my faithful 5-10 readers that the next chapter will be in the POV of the Mellarks and the Hawthornes. Oh yeah, parental POVs. **


	10. Parental Minds

**A/N: Heller! Just wanted to ask you guys to REVIEW ALREADY! This is my 9****th**** chapter and I have 6 reviews, count them, 6. So, PLEASE REVIEW! Oh and I am NOT Suzanne Collins.**

Chapter 9

_Peeta's POV_

Oh. No. This is NOT happening. That is NOT my son, standing exactly where I stood almost 30 years ago. No. Katniss is tearing up. Oh, dear Lord. Please be with my son.

Gale is standing stock still, his fists clenched. His daughter is up there, too. I know that at least one of the two of us will be heartbroken in the next few weeks. And the worst thing: his wife, Aster's mom, is at home in 2.

0-o-0

Katniss has locked herself in our room, and she won't come out. Great. Calla's freaking out because we won't tell her what happened. Gale is just pacing the living room, looking pale and muttering to himself. He called his wife, Lira, but broke down in tears before he could tell her much, so I had to do it for him, making sure Calla didn't hear.

When Katniss and I woke up this morning to find out that Storm and Aster were missing, I didn't think much about it. I mean, I just assumed they were out together. Maybe Storm was showing Aster around, but when they didn't turn up in time for the reaping, we got worried. And then to see _them_ get reaped, we all freaked out.

Suddenly, I hear Katniss shriek and I have a jolt of adrenaline powerful enough for me to knock the door down. I'm by her side in 3 steps.

"Katniss, honey, what's wrong?" I ask her, my breath still ragged from my almost-heart attack.

"Everything's wrong," she cries into my shoulder. "What if the same thing that happened to us happens to them?"

It hits me. If my son falls in love with Aster Hawthorne, I will kill. Katniss and I were 16. Storm and Aster are 14. No way am I allowing some of the stuff we did (sleeping in the same bed, kissing in public, cuddling) to happen and I KNOW Gale would probably kill Storm if he so much as laid a finger on his Aster. After all, she is their only child.

After about 10 minutes, my shirt is soaked, but Katniss is okay. I think she realizes we all have to be strong. She stands, takes a shaky breath, and walks toward the door. Before she makes it, though, Calla blocks the door.

"You're going to tell me right now what the sheep is going on here," she says, determined to get her information. That demand right there is enough to put Katniss in tears, but she stands strong.

"We'll tell you downstairs, honey," she says weakly.

Calla all but races down the stairs to the couch where she plops herself down. Katniss follows her more slowly, and I bring up the rear. Gale is still pacing in front of the fireplace where only ashes lay.

"Gale," Katniss says calmly, "come on and sit down. They're smart kids. If the rules are still 74th style, then both of them will be home in a few weeks. It'll be fine." Katniss tries to fake a smile, but it looks more like a grimace.

That night, we have to watch the reaping all over again. When the District 2 kids come up, Gale looks shocked all over again. I wonder if Aster knew them. The Riegan kid from 5 sounds familiar, too.

0-o-0

We watch the parade in silence. That's pretty much how life is now. Silent. Calla looks epically bored, but she doesn't understand. Katniss and I have been through what our son is about to go through all over again. Gale has been in this exact same position twice already. He almost lost his best friend to the Games twice. And now his daughter is in it.

0-o-0

The next day, the first portion of the comments are actually about Storm and Aster. As the shot of them comes up on screen, Gale lets out a hiss through his teeth. I can see why; Aster is being… um… sexually harassed by this monster of a boy. A second later, Gale is on his feet. Then the camera pans to 4 boys standing on the opposite side of the table, and now the shock of seeing Aster being harassed by the giant wears off and I can hear the conversation.

I see Storm, the boy from 2 (I think his name is Davis or something like that), Finnick's son Finn, and – oh, I recognize the kid now – Riegan, my son's pen pal. Suddenly, Storm gives a sort of signal, and all 4 boys rush to the other side. In a matter of moments, the monster (Titan) is pinned to the ground by Finn and Riegan, and Aster is sobbing in Storm's arms.

Gale has his fists clenched and he is really pale.

"That's it!" he shouts. "I'm getting them out of there!" He storms out of the room and is gone.

_Gale's POV_

0-o-0

I bust into the mayor's office with the red fiery anger still in my eyes.

"WHY IS MY DAUGHTER IN THE –insert choice curse word here- HUNGER GAMES?" I yell at Mayer Topear.

"Mr. Hawthorne," Mayer Topear says to me, looking flustered.

I try to interrupt, but he holds up a hand. "Just let me explain! Rebels from the capitol have taken over the Hunger Games and put in tributes that are related to the winners, the dead tributes, or people that were important to the war. The Capitol people think the Gamemakers are just trying to mix the Games up a bit, so these tributes volunteered. But the only tributes who were actually dragged up on stage were your daughter and the Mellark's son. There's no way we can get them out of there. I'm sorry. But I do know that the rules have stayed the same since the 74th, it's just no two tributes from the same district have ever survived into the final two. I think District 12 has a chance. They seem to know enough about weapons and such," he tells me.

"So you're telling me I can't do anything to get my daughter out of the Hunger Games, so the only thing I possibly can do is just to watch her?" I ask him seriously.

"Yes. That's exactly what I'm saying," he nods.

"Okay," I trail off. "Well, I apologize for yelling at you. I was just so scared," I say

"I completely understand," Mayor Topear smiles at me sadly.

"Thank you," I tell him earnestly as I turn to leave.

On my walk home, the pain comes back. I can't bear not having my little girl anymore.

**REVIEW!**

**Hit that button,**

**Hit it right now.**

**Or I will find you.**

**I know how…**


	11. Flames and Storms

**Okay, I'm not posting the next chapter until I get 17 reviews. That's 5 more, so COME ON! REVIEW!**

_Storm's POV_

Don't ask me what came over me. I don't know why I kissed her. I just did. And it's not like that counts as a real kiss. It was just a peck on the cheek. Yeah. That's all it was. A little friendly peck on her cheek. Not a kiss that conveyed whatever feelings I actually have concerning Aster. Because I still haven't figured that part out yet.

Anyway, the next morning, I wake up to Camellia knocking – or more like banging – on my door. I get the message and trudge my way to the bathroom where I take a quick shower.

In 20 minutes, I'm making my way to breakfast. Nothing much interesting happens at breakfast. Aster comes in about 5 minutes afterwards looking amazing, as usual. Er, I didn't say that. Forget I said that.

Then something really weird happens. Diara comes in and clears her throat like she's about to make some big announcement.

"Okay! So the Gamemakers have decided that in the interest of time, we will have the training exhibition starting at noon. Then tonight we will announce the scores during your interviews. That okay with everyone?" She does the little ponytail swoosh thing again with her hands clasped in front of her. No one dares say anything, so she smiles a sickly sweet smile and bobs her way out of the room.

I glance up at the clock and have to do a double-take. It's 11:15 already! That's 45 minutes until the exhibition starts. Aster and I are District 12, so there are 22 people in front of us. Calculations run through my head. It usually takes about 15 minutes per person. 22 multiplied by 15 is… Um… 330? That's 5 ½ hours… But some people only take 10 minutes, so let's say around 4 ½ to 5 hours… Then it'll be around 5. We'll have to eat and get dressed by 7, so no time for coaching on interviews. Let's hope Aster isn't as good as my mother was at this stuff.

Time flies until it's 12:00. Then it decides to inch on past, like a train who's stalling for someone. Finally, at about 4:15, I get called in. By then it's just me, Aster, Soia, and Deggor.

My hands are sweating as I meet my fate and sure demise. See? Here I go like Calla again. I would do anything to have one more day with them. The training room is covered in what has to be fake blood. Almost like an explosion… Bombs… Dang it! Why does it always have to be bombs? Come on people! Pick something more direct, like a… a… sword… That's it! That's what I'm going to do!

I quickly scan the room for the sword station. There it is! And there's the sword I'm going to use. The Claymore. Uncle Rory always had a thing for swords, so I learned some of their names. I particularly liked the Rapier, Claymore, and Schiavona**. **But the Claymore was always best.

I put a smile on my face and saunter over to the beautiful Claymore sword. It has a crest on the hilt, kind of like a family crest, but I really don't care to know whose sword it had been.

When I pick up the sword, I don't know immediately what I'm going to do. I make a few slashes to get used to it first. Then I try stabbing the training dummies a few times. And that's when I saw the fire pit. And I know that I'm going to set the wall on fire.

I grab a can of oil the wrestlers used and slather it on the wall in letter formation. The bottle said it can last up to 5 minutes burning. I know that'll be enough time to do what I want to do.

I take the sword and stab some flaming coals from the pit. The Gamemakers look at me rather oddly, but I don't pay attention. I take them up to the wall and I slash the Claymore, coals and all, on the wall in a vertical motion on the first letter. And suddenly, the wall is aflame in four words:

THE EMBERS BURN ON

I get the feeling that this statement has the Gamemakers kind of freaked out. I grin a little a throw my sword upward like a spear into the light above my head. As I walk towards the door, sparks are coming down in sheets. I smirk. They won't forget this.

**Okay! I wanted to get this chapter up and this seemed like a good stopping point. Like I said, no more updates until I see 17 reviews. 5 more people! And I'll have Aster's POV waiting!**


	12. Not Really There

**So here we are at Chapter 11… Well, actually 12, but I still call it 11. Yes, I know I said I wouldn't post until I had 17 reviews, but what the heck! By the way it'll probably be 3 chapters tops (hopefully 2 or even 1) until the Games start. After this it's the interviews and scores and then the Launch room and then the Games! YAY! READ AND REVIEW! **

**I AM NOT SUZANNE COLLINS.**

_Aster's POV_

I hear some muffled gasps coming from the room that Storm went into about 10 minutes ago. I don't wanna know. I don't wanna know.

So about 10 more minutes later, I get called in. They've kinda got me intimidated now. But I put on a false smile and go in anyway. Oh my gosh! I haven't even decided what I'm going to do yet. The Gamemakers' assistants are still putting some kind of tarp over one of the walls… Um… No question. That had to be Storm.

A million thoughts are going through my head as I scan the room. And suddenly, it comes to me. I'm going to blow the lighting circuit. With knives. My specialty.

I run to the knife station doing a little ninja roll at the last second for good measure. I grab a couple that look identical. They have little buttons on the sides. Whatever.

As I look up at the lights, I notice one is already blown out. Darn you Storm! Okay, nix that plan. Now go to plan B.

I've always been pretty good with coming up with plan Bs, but this go round, nothing's coming to me. Dang it. I look over at the Gamemakers who are looking at… A roast duck? Really? Come on! Now I have to do something amazing.

I notice the force field patch. Dad taught me how to find them ages ago. A pang of hurt runs through me, but I shove it off. I am not going to cry in front the Gamemakers. What if I took down the field and then… Oh that would so work! Okay. So… A plan forms in my head as I get a running start to hit the patch. As I near it, I come to a halt and aim, wind up, and follow through. Yeah!

The curved knife hits its mark and I hear some stuff short-circuiting and then a big electricity bolt goes through the knife… The space in front of the Gamemakers suddenly becomes clearer. Everything flickers around me. I look over at where the Gamemakers are supposed to be, and they're not there. What? Holograms? No. Way. They would not go that low. Oh, but they would.

For good measure, I hit all of the dummies in the heart with a knife. Then I turn on my heel and leave.

_Storm's POV_

I pace outside of my room waiting for Aster to get back. I keep thinking of my exhibition. And I keep grinning at the thought. Haha! I finally told them! Even my parents didn't do anything to that scale!

After about 10 minutes, I go into my room.

I hear the elevator door open and wait for the knock on my door. But it doesn't come. I wait about 2 minutes, but nothing happens. Okay. Not good.

I leave my room and cross the hall to Aster's. I knock on her door. Nothing. I knock again. Still nothing. So I open the door. And there's Aster. Laying on her bed with her feet dangling off the bed. She's just staring at the ceiling.

"Aster?" I ask her. No reply. Weird.

I cross the room to her bed and sit down on the edge next the her legs.

"Aster? You okay?" Now I'm kinda worried. This is not good. We have an interview to get ready for.

I level my face with her and look into her pretty blue eyes. (There I go again with the whole eye color thing. What is wrong with me?)

"What happened in there?" I ask her quietly.

She just shakes her head. "I don't know. But I do know that the Gamemakers aren't actually sitting there."

"What do you mean?" I ask her incredulously. I mean, of course they're there. That's kinda the point.

"I brought down the force field. And I brought them down too. Apparently the force field and their hologram thingy are connected somehow, so when I brought the field down, they short-circuited too," she rushes.

"Oh." That's all I can think of. Oh. Wow, Storm. So original.

"Well, to make you feel better," I grin, "I set the wall on fire and busted a light."

"Yeah. That was what ruined Plan A," she grins back.

"You were gonna blow the lights?" I laugh.

"You know it!" Her face breaks into a smile.

"I drew some words on the wall in oil and lit it on fire. And then I hit the light with a knife for good measure," I say matter-of-factly, nodding my head. "It was epic."

"Mine was gonna be too, until someone stole my idea!" she laughs. "Yeah, it didn't turn out so epically…"

"After the 4 I'm going to get, you're 9 or 10 will look a whole lot better," I say seriously.

"Why would you get a 4?" she asks, looking actually surprised.

"I didn't prove I could survive anything. All I said was 'Hey! Look at me! I'm famous and you're not!'"

"Riegan would've added a 'Loser' in there somewhere," Aster tells me.

"Ahh. Yes, he would've. But I already made my point and I, therefore, need not use random insults to get my point across," I grin.

"Touché," she laughs.

"We better get ready for the interview. Since we have, I dunno, like an hour and a half?" I say.

"Alright." Aster sits up and pulls her fingers through her now slightly tangled hair.

Then she's the one that does the surprising thing; she stands and takes my hand.

"Come on! You were the one that said we needed to get ready!"

**REVIEW! I'm dead serious about not posting until I have 17 reviews now. But I didn't want to disappoint my 9 or 10 followers!**


	13. Shirtless Communication

**I'm back! I'm not Suzanne Collins. Just saying. **

_Aster's POV_

Here I am. In a dress. Sitting in a fancy chair. On a stage. In front of all of Panem. With the other 25 and Celeste Flickerman. Caesar's daughter.

When I came out of the dressing room 15 minutes ago, Storm was waiting for me. I smiled at him. He looks really good in that tux. My dress is yellow. It comes halfway down my thighs. It's fitted until my ribcage, where it fans out in layers of yellow fabric, tulle, and sparkles. Storm's eyes got wider as he looked at the dress. He smiled back and offered me his hand. I took it gratefully.

So here I am. Onstage. In my little bitty dress. With only 6 minutes between me and Celeste. Then suddenly, it's upon me. My turn. So I put on my best smile and head up to the seat next to Celeste.

"Hello, Aster!" Celeste says in a very cheery voice.

"Hey, Celeste!" I smile back.

"So, when I saw that you and Storm were reaped, I think I was wondering the same the rest of Panem was: are you two dating?" Celeste asks eagerly.

"No," I laugh. "We actually just met the day before." Truthful, yes. Enough? No.

"Well, you seem awfully close to have just met," she prompts me. And they show the clip of… Wait, they taped that? No. Way. The screen is a video of Riegan beating up Titan. The camera pans over to a shot of me crying into Storm's chest. Great. My dad saw that. If Titan doesn't die now, he's so dead after he comes to 2 on the Victory Tour.

Oh, right. Think of something to say. "I think it's mostly just our history. Our parents knew each other really well, so we kinda just picked up my dad's and his mom's friendship…"

That wasn't too bad, was it?

Right then, the buzzer sounds. Thank you Lord!

As I return to my seat, Storm passes me. He cocks an eyebrow as if to say, "Should I do the same?" I nod slightly and he blinks the okay.

I sit and relax a little bit.

_Storm's POV_

Alright, same back-story. Switch it up a bit. There. That'll work. Okay. Calm down, Storm. You'll be fine. Just 3 minutes, right?

I sit and immediately, Celeste pounces with a question.

"So, we've heard Aster's side of the story. So what about yours?" she cocks an eyebrow.

"Well, I agree with Aster. Our parents were close so why shouldn't we be? Ya know, that and the fact that we're stuck in the Hunger Games. So I figure we should be friends." Good answer. I'm fine.

"How do you think you're parents feel about watching you in the Games that they were in twice?" Celeste asks.

I have to think about this one. Oh! I know! "I think that they're really scared for me. But they shouldn't be. I'm going to try my best to get out of there. The rules are still that 2 can win from the same district, right?" I ask.

"Yes! Are you planning to team up with Aster to win?"

I smile. "Yeah. I'm not going home knowing I could have saved her. Or the other way around, I think." I turn and smile at Aster. She nods at me.

"Oh! I have one more question for you, Storm," Celeste says. I nod for her to go on. "You and Aster seem to be able to communicate without actually speaking. What's up with that?"

Crap. They noticed. Great. Okay. What to say.

"It's not like telecommunication or anything. It's just… Uh… We read each other's signals. Like just a second ago when I was coming up. I asked her if I should do anything unexpected. She said yes, and then I said okay." A lie, but okay, I can make something out of that. What can I do unexpected to top my own father? Well, nothing. But I can come close.

"So what unexpected thing are you going to do?" Celeste asks sorta seductively.

"This." And in three moves my coat and shirt were lying on the chair. Hehe. Bet Dad wouldn't do something like that. Now all I have is a black tie. I'll just leave that there. Don't ask how I did that. I have no clue. Celeste is open-mouthed in her chair. The crowd is apparently full of girls my age because all I hear is screaming girls. I smile.

"That qualifies as unexpected, right?" I laugh. But Celeste doesn't get to answer because at that moment, the buzzer goes off.

I grab my shirt and coat and walk, no, I admit it, I strutted back to my seat.

Aster gives me a look that plainly says "That was not what I said." "I know," I nod slightly as I button my shirt. Then she shoots another stare at me. "What the heck?" she seems to say. "Later," I shake my head. "Okay…" She nods a little uncertainly.

District 13 was uneventful. And boring. Standard questions. Standard answers. Boring.

"And now for the interesting part!" Celeste concludes. "We'll be right back for the singing part of the interviews!"

Wait. WHAT?

**Yup! Next chappie will be have music! Oh yeah! I'll try to post today or tomorrow. **

**REVIEW!**

**The button is right under this. COME ON!**


	14. We R Chasing Somebody la Vida

**This is somewhat of a musical chapter. (Inspired by DefyTheImpossible) I'll be switching POVs a lot in this chapter, so stay with me. I'll do the first 4 songs in this chapter and the other 5 in the next.**

_Aster's POV_

What? Singing? I didn't sign up for this. Well, then again, I didn't sign up to be in the Hunger Games, either, so whatevz.

All 26 of us are ushered off stage to separate rooms for boys and girls. Diara is in the girls' room.

"Okay! So this is going to be a little elimination contest before the training scores are revealed. One girl and one boy win. They each get really important sponsors. So the girls are going to do a song together and the boys are going to do a song together. Then 5 of each are going to be eliminated. Then another song. And another. Until we're down to 3. Then only one gets eliminated each time. So there will be 4 songs plus the guys 4. That's 8. But then the winners do a song together so that'll be 9. Okay?" Diara rushes.

Uh… My mind is still trying to wrap around this concept. Okay…

"So the Gamemakers are picking songs. Here's the girls first one." She starts a song. Everyone knows it. We learn it in 10 minutes and are on stage in another 2. All of us face the back and the music starts.

**Chryssi:**

_Hot and dangerous  
If you're one of us, then roll with us  
'Cause we make the hipsters fall in love  
And we've got hot-pants on and up  
And yes of course we does we're running this town just like a club  
And no, you don't wanna mess with us  
Got Jesus on my necklace_

**Lyssa:**  
_I've got that glitter on my eyes  
Stockings ripped all up the side  
Looking sick and sexy-fied  
So let's go-o-o (Let's go!)_

**Aster:**  
_Tonight we're going hard  
Just like the world is ours  
We're tearin' it apart  
You know we're superstars  
We R who we R!_

**All:**  
_We're dancing like we're dumb  
Our bodies go numb  
We'll be forever young  
You know we're superstars  
We R who we R!_

**Zillia:**  
_DJ turn it up_

**Kyli:**_  
DJ turn it up_

**Sioa:** _  
DJ turn it up_

**All:**_  
DJ turn it up_

Aster:_  
Tonight we're going hard  
Just like the world is ours  
We're tearin' it apart  
You know we're superstars  
We R who we R!_

**All:**_  
We're dancing like we're dumb  
Our bodies go numb  
We'll be forever young  
You know we're superstars  
We R who we R!_

_**Storm's POV**_

Woah. Aster can sing. Where'd that come from? Come on, Storm. Think about that stuff later. It's show time. The girls leave the stage as we go on. Hehe. Are they going to be surprised at this!

**Aerogan**

_For you I'd write a symphony  
I'd tell the violin  
It's time to sink or swim  
Watch him play for ya_

_For you I'd be (_All: _Whoah)  
Runnin a thousand miles  
Just get you where you are  
Step to the beat of my heart._

**Storm**_  
I don't need a whole lot  
But for you I admit I  
Rather give you the world  
Or we can share mine  
I know that I won't be the first one  
Given you all this attention  
But baby listen  
I just need somebody to love  
I-I don't need too much  
Just need somebody to love._

**All**_  
(Somebody to love)_

**Storm**_  
I don't need nothing else  
I promise girl, I swear.  
I just need somebody to love.  
I need somebody I-I need somebody  
I need somebody I-I need somebody._

**Riegan**_  
And you can have it all  
Anything you want I can bring  
Give you the finer things, yeah  
But what I really want  
I can't find 'cause, money can't find me.  
Somebody to love. (Ohh Whoa)  
Find me somebody to love _

**All**_  
I need somebody to love  
I-I don't need too much  
Just somebody to love.  
Somebody to love.I don't need  
nothing else,I promise girl I swear,I just need somebody to love._

**Finn**_  
I need somebody, I-I need somebody_

**David**_  
I need somebody, I-I need somebody_

**Reke**_  
I need somebody, I-I need somebody  
_**Aerogan**

_I need somebody  
I-I need somebody.  
Oh oh oh oh oh... _

**Storm**_  
Is she out there  
Is she out there_

**All**_  
I just need somebody to love._

_**Aster's POV**_

Wow. Storm can sing. And I mean sing! Aerogan's pretty good too. He's still really hot. Alright then. Time for elimination. And the list pops up on the screen:

1st Round Boys Elimination

Loorum – District 6

Friely – District 9

Deggor – District 13

Hailand – District 8

Fysei – District 3

1st Round Girls Elimination

Rilly – District 1

Veize – District 3

Sava – District 10

Kyla – District 6

Quassina – District 8

Yes! Storm and I both got through! We could both win this! The tributes that got through to the next round go back to the rooms to practice the next song. It doesn't take us very long to learn it and we're back onstage in another 15 minutes.

**Kyli**

_We'll do it all  
Everything  
On our own  
We don't need  
Anything  
Or anyone_

**All**_  
If I lay here  
If I just lay here  
Would you lie with me  
And just forget the world?_

**Lyssa**_  
Let's waste time  
Chasing cars  
Around our heads  
I need your grace  
To remind me  
To find my own_

**All**_  
If I lay here  
If I just lay here  
Would you lie with me  
And just forget the world?  
_

**Chryssi**_  
Forget what we're told  
Before we get too old  
Show me a garden  
That's bursting into life  
_

**Aster**_  
All that I am  
All that I ever was  
Is here in your perfect eyes  
They're all I can see_

**All**_  
I don't know where  
Confused about how as well  
Just know that these things  
Will never change for us at all_

**Aster**_  
If I lay here  
If I just lay here  
Would you lie with me  
And just forget the world?_

Well, that went pretty well!

_**Storm's POV**_

Alright! Here we go! Best song ever.

**Riegan**

_I used to rule the world  
Seas would rise when I gave the word  
Now in the morning I sleep alone  
Sweep the streets I used to own  
_

**Aerogan**_  
I used to roll the dice  
Feel the fear in my enemy's eyes  
Listen as the crowd would sing  
"Now the old king is dead! Long live the king!"  
_

**David**_  
One minute I held the key  
Next the walls were closed on me  
And I discovered that my castles stand  
Upon pillars of salt and pillars of sand  
_

**Storm**_  
I hear Jerusalem bells a ringing  
Roman Cavalry choirs are singing  
Be my mirror, my sword and shield  
My missionaries in a foreign field  
_

**All**_  
For some reason I can't explain  
Once you go there was never  
Never an honest word  
And that was when I ruled the world  
I hear Jerusalem bells a ringing  
Roman Cavalry choirs are singing  
Be my mirror, my sword and shield  
My missionaries in a foreign field_

**Storm, Riegan, and Aerogan**_  
For some reason I can't explain  
I know Saint Peter won't call my name  
Never an honest word  
But that was when I ruled the world_

Now time for elimination. The big screen behind me lights up and shows ten names.

2nd Round Boys Elimination

Rye

Reke

Titan

David

Finn

2nd Round Girls Elimination

Marsh

Em

Soia

Zillia

Chryssi

Aster and I were both in the Top 3! We have to get some good sponsors now!

**Okay! I know! Really long chappie! Stay with me though. I'm getting somewhere. This is just a few easy chapters for me so I can take a little break.**


	15. Landslide Hero in September Fireworks

**Yes, I know the song chapters don't have much substance, but I like the prospect of the tributes singing. Corny, I know, but awesome. Can you think of Peeta and Katniss singing? No. But you can think of my tributes singing. Right? I dunno. Maybe I am crazy. Oh! And I'M NOT SUZANNE COLLINS!**

_**Aster's POV**_

So we head back to the backstage rooms to prepare song number 3. I really like the harmonies in this song. They bring out each individual voice. I'm on melody, Kyli has soprano harmony and Lyssa has alto harmony. Another 20 minutes and we're back onstage.

**Aster**

_I took my love, I took it down  
Climbed a mountain and I turned around_

**All (in 3 parts)**_  
And I saw my reflection in the snow covered hills  
Till the landslide brought me down  
Oh, mirror in the sky, what is love?  
Can the child within my heart rise above?  
Can I sail through the changing ocean tides?  
Can I handle the seasons of my life?  
Mmm, mmm, mmm  
Well, I've been afraid of changing  
'Cause I've built my life around you  
But time makes you bolder  
Even children get older and I'm getting older too  
Well, I've been afraid of changing  
'Cause I've built my life around you  
But time makes you bolder  
Even children get older and I'm getting older too  
Oh, I'm getting older too_

**Aster**_  
Awh, take my love, take it down  
Awh, climb a mountain and _

**All (in 3 parts)**

_turn around  
And if you see my reflection in the snow covered hills  
Well, the landslide bring it down  
And if you see my reflection in the snow covered hills  
Well, the landslide bring it down  
Oh, the landslide bring it down_

I leave the stage feeling confident. I can win this thing, can't I?

_**Storm's POV**_

So the 3 of us that are left (me, Riegan, and –Aster thinks is hot but he's a real idiot – Aerogan) are doing an awesome song. I mean, I love this band, even though they're pre-apocalypse. It's just a really cool song.

We storm the stage (hehe, get it? _Storm_ the – oh, forget it) as soon as Aster, Lyssa, and Kyli finish their little song.

**Riegan**

_How the time passed away? All the trouble that we gave  
And all those days we spent out by the lake  
Has it all gone to waste? All the promises we made  
One by one they vanish just the same_

**Aerogan**_  
Of all the things I still remember  
Summer's never looked the same  
The years go by and time just seems to fly  
But the memories remain_

**Storm**_  
In the middle of September we'd still play out in the rain  
Nothing to lose but everything to gain  
Reflecting now on how things could've been  
It was worth it in the end_

**Aerogan**_  
We knew we had to leave this town  
But we never knew when and we never knew how  
We would end up here the way we are_

**All**_  
Yeah we knew we had to leave this town  
But we never knew when and we never knew how_

**Storm**_  
Of all the things I still remember  
Summer's never looked the same  
The years go by and time just seems to fly  
But the memories remain  
In the middle of September we'd still play out in the rain  
Nothing to lose but everything to gain  
Reflecting now on how things could've been  
It was worth it in the end_

Oh yeah! I HAVE to get through that round! The screen lights up with 2 names:

3rd Round Boy Elimination: Riegan

3rd Round Girl Elimination: Lyssa

Now that's what I'm talking about! Back to the rooms to practice one last song…

_**Aster's POV**_

Okay. This song is definitely in my range, but it's in Kyli's, too. Then I'll just have to be better than her.

**Aster**

_Do you ever feel like a plastic bag  
Drifting throught the wind  
Wanting to start again_

**Kyli**_  
Do you ever feel, feel so paper thin  
Like a house of cards  
One blow from caving in_

**Aster**_  
Do you ever feel already buried deep  
Six feet under scream  
But no one seems to hear a thing_

**Kyli**_  
Do you know that there's still a chance for you  
Cause there's a spark in you_

**Both**_  
You just gotta ignite the light  
And let it shine  
Just own the night  
Like the Fourth of July_

**Kyli**_  
Cause baby you're a firework  
Come on show 'em what you're worth  
Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh!"  
As you shoot across the sky-y-y_

**Aster**_  
Baby you're a firework  
Come on let your colors burst  
Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh!"  
You're gonna leave 'em fallin' down-own-own  
_**Kyli**

_Boom, boom, boom  
Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon_

**Aster**_  
It's always been inside of you, you, you  
And now it's time to let it through  
Cause baby you're a firework  
Come on show 'em what your worth  
Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh!"  
As you shoot across the sky-y-y_

**Kyli**_  
Baby you're a firework  
Come on slet your colors burst  
Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh!"  
You're gonna leave 'em all in awe-awe-awe  
Boom, boom, boom  
Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon_

**Aster**_  
Boom, boom, boom  
Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon_

I think that did it! She cracked on her last note anyway, so I think I might just have won this thing! Now let's see if Storm pulls through.

_**Storm's POV**_

**Storm**

_Yeah, yeah, yeah,  
I'm no superman  
I can't take your hand  
And fly you anywhere you wanna go, yeah_

**Aerogan**_  
I can't read your mind  
Like a billboard sign  
And tell you everything you wanna hear but  
I'll be your hero_

**Storm**_  
Cause I, I can be everything you need  
If you're the one for me  
Like gravity_

_I'll be unstoppable_

**Aerogan**

_I, yeah I believe in destiny  
I may be an ordinary  
Guy with heart and soul  
But if you're the one for me  
Then I'll be your hero,_

**Storm**_  
Oh, I'll be a hero, yeah,  
I'll be your hero, so incredible,  
Some kind of miracle,_

**Aerogan**_  
And when its meant to be  
I'll become a hero, oh,_

**Storm**_  
So I'll wait, wait, wait, wait for you  
Yeah, I'll be your hero, yeah,_

**Aerogan**_  
Cuz I, I can be everything you need  
If you're the one for me  
Like gravity  
I'll be unstoppable_

**Storm**_  
I, yeah I believe in destiny  
I may be an ordinary  
Guy with heart and soul  
But if you're the one for me  
I'll be your hero_

**Both**_  
Yeah, yeah, I'll be your hero  
Yeah, I'll be your hero,_

**Storm**_  
Hero  
_

Two hot guys singing about being heroes apparently brings lots of screaming fans to the front. I had an impulse to take off my shirt, but I it wouldn't be half as epic as last time. Not the opportune moment. Not yet at least.

The elimination names come up and the crowd goes wild. After a second, the screen flicks to 2 more names. The names of the winners.

**WINNERS: STORM & ASTER!**

I turn to Aerogan. "Sorry, man!" I chuckle. Dang! Those girls are going nuts! What's up with that? Aerogan turns to leave just as Aster runs back onstage. She's smiling a mile across her face. As she nears me, I brace myself for what is sure to be – OOF! Impact. Wow, Aster. Fling yourself at me. Great job.

"Aster?" I ask her through a mouth full of hair.

"Yeah?" she answers.

"Ya know we have to do another song, right?" I tell her.

"Yeah," comes the reply.

"Well, we should probably go get on that," I say.

"Okay," she says, lifting her head from its almost permanent spot on my chest.

One more song. That's what I keep telling myself. One more song.

**Yes, I know. I said I was gonna post the winning duet in this one. But I wanted to get it up tonight. Dad's pestering me about bedtime, so I'll post the duet tomorrow. **

**REVIEW!**

_**QUESTION: WHAT SONG SHOULD I USE FOR THE DUET?**_


	16. Wouldn't Change a Thing

**Okay! I got a few song suggestions… Not like excess or anything, but I decided to go with my original choice. I know it's a tad corny, but it's a cute song. REVIEW!**

_Aster's POV_

We get back to the backstage rooms and immediately have an issue. Which room do we use? Stupid problem, but legit. We debate for about 2 minutes on which room to use until Diara comes backstage and tells us there's a room on the other side of the stage for us to use. Oh. Why didn't we think of that?

Storm and I get to the other room where the song we're to sing is already playing. Oh. No. This is a cutesy dating/relationship song! I thought we clearly stated that we were NOT dating!

_Diara's POV_

Alright. While the 2 lovebirds are practicing, let's go reveal those scores. I cue the screen manager and usher the other 24 tributes into a line from the boy of District 1 – who is really creepy might I add – to the girl of District 13, leaving out 12 of course. They'll get their scores after they perform.

The screens go dark and the lights dim. I see some of the tributes holding hands. Weird. But okay. Whatever. And then the scores are there. On the screen. All 13 districts. Except 12.

**District 1**

Titan: 10

Rilly: 7

**District 2**

David: 8

Chryssi: 6

**District 3**

Fysei: 5

Veize: 6

**District 4**

Finn: 10

Zillia: 9

**District 5**

Riegan: 10

Em: 8

**District 6**

Loorum: 6

Kyla: 6

**District 7**

Aerogan: 10

Lyssa: 8

**District 8**

Hailand: 3

Quassina: 5

**District 9**

Friely: 6

Marsh: 4

**District 10**

Rye: 6

Sava: 5

**District 11**

Reke: 9

Kyli: 9

**District 13**

Deggor: 7

Soia: 8

The tributes either sigh in relief or totally freak out. Hmph. Got to have some surprises. Now all I can hope for are some gruesome deaths.

After about 5 minutes, which is adequate time for the cameras to pan the faces and scores, I go get Storm and Aster.

"Come on you two! Time for your big moment!" I say briskly.

_Storm's POV_

Aster is going to outshine me by a mile. Dang! Can she sing! She's AMAZING. And I'm just the boy next door who she got to sing backup. Wow. Alright, here we go.

**Aster**  
_It's like, he doesn't hear a word I say  
His mind is somewhere far away  
And I don't know how to get there  
It's like all he wants is to chill out_

**Storm**_  
(She's serious)_

**Aster**_  
He makes me wanna pull all my hair out_

**Storm**_  
(She's always in a rush and interrupted)_

**Aster**_  
Like he doesn't even care_

**Storm**_  
(Like she doesn't even care)_

**Both**_  
You, me  
We're face to face  
But we don't see eye to eye  
_

**Both (Storm in ( ))**_  
Like fire and rain _

_(Like fire and rain)  
You can drive me insane_

_(You can drive me insane)_

**Both**_  
But I can't stay mad at you for anything_

**Both (Storm in ( ))**_  
We're Venus and Mars _

_(Venus and Mars)  
We're like different stars _

_(like different stars)_

**Both**_  
You're the harmony to every song I sing  
And I wouldn't change a thing_

**Storm**_  
She's always trying to save the day  
Just wanna let my music play  
She's all or nothing  
But my feeling's never change_

**Both (Storm in ( ))**_  
Why does he try to read my mind?  
(I try to read her mind)  
It's not good to psychoanalyze  
(She tries to pick a fight to get attention)  
That's what all of my friends say  
(That's what all of my friends say)_

**Both**

_You, me  
We're face to face  
But we don't see eye to eye_

**Both (Storm in ( ))**

_Like fire and rain _

_(Like fire and rain)  
You can drive me insane _

_(You can drive me insane)_

**Both**_  
But I can't stay mad at you for anything_

**Both (Storm in ( ))**_  
We're Venus and Mars _

_(Venus and Mars)  
We're like different stars_

_(like different stars)_

**Both**_  
but you're the harmony to every song I sing  
And I wouldn't change a thing_

**Storm**_  
When I'm yes, she's no_

**Aster**_  
When I hold on, he just lets go_

**Both**_  
We're perfectly imperfect  
But I wouldn't change a thing, no_

**Both (Storm in ( ))**_  
Like fire and rain _

_(Like fire and rain)  
You can drive me insane _

_(You can drive me insane)_

**Both**_  
But I can't stay mad at you for anything_

**Both (Storm in ( ))**_  
We're Venus and Mars _

_(Venus and Mars)  
We're like different stars _

_(like different stars)_

**Both **_  
but you're the harmony to every song I sing  
And I wouldn't change a thing  
But I can't stay mad at you for anything_

**Both (Storm in ( ))**_  
We're Venus and Mars_

_(Venus and Mars)  
We're like different stars _

_(like different stars)_

**Both**_  
but you're the harmony to every song I sing  
And I wouldn't change a  
Wouldn't change a thing_

By the end of the song, we're standing so close we're practically touching. Our mics are entwined (A/N: kinda like in Camp Rock at the final jam when Demi and Joe are singing This is Me/Gotta Find You). The crowd goes insane! Told ya she can sing. I was a pretty good backup singer I must say.

Celeste breaks the cheering off when she announces that we will be receiving bonus sponsors. Then she announces our scores and they flash up on the screen.

**District 12**

Storm: 11

Aster: 12

No. Flippin. Way. An 11? I look down at Aster and she looks like she's about to burst with joy. She beat me! Little sucker. Dang. Whatever. Her red hair is in my mouth again as she hugs me. I grin and hug her back. I have another urge to take off my shirt again, but this is, again, not the opportune time. Maybe in the middle of the Games when Aster gets hurt and I have to save her. Yeah. That's it.

About 10 minutes later, the hubbub dies down and Aster and I return to our rooms for the night. But I can't sleep. Dad told me about the rooftop garden… Wonder if it's still there? I make my way up the staircase that Dad described and find the door cracked open. Huh. That's weird.

I open the door a little further to find…

"Aster?" I say out loud.

She jumps in surprise and whirls around. She sees me and then visibly relaxes.

"Oh. It's just you," she says.

"What are you doing up here?" I ask her.

"Couldn't sleep," Aster replies simply.

"Me too."

"We should make a plan," she says suddenly.

"Okay," I say, a little doubtfully.

"I say we team up and try to win."

"Well, yes. That was kinda the point of being friends."

"And if we get separated…"

"We'll eventually find each other again. If we get separated, lay low for a bit," I say smartly.

We talk strategy for a while until I can tell she's getting tired. I move to sit closer to her and put my arm protectively around her.

Another 5 minutes and she's drifted off on my chest. I grin down at her; she looks a lot younger and less fierce asleep.

I pick her up bridal style and take her back to her room. When I lay her on her bed, she curls up in a little ball and won't let go of my hand. Her father might kill me, but I'm not even going to go to… Wow. I AM tired. I yawn and pull up the covers around me and Aster. I pray that God will give me enough strength to keep us both alive as I'm drifting off…

**REVIEW! Did ya like it? TELL ME!**


	17. Unexpected Sentimentality

**A/N: HEY! I'm sorry to say that this is going to be a mini chapter. I know. My chapters are already short. But this one'll be even shorter. Because, you see, I want to get to the Games, but I want to give you detail too. So the Games will actually start in the next chapter. Oh! And so sorry it took me so long to update!**

_Aster's POV_

I wake up in my comfy bed and immediately notice two things: I actually slept, and I'm not alone. My left hand is attached to someone's right. Uhhh…. WHAT? 

I turn, afraid of what – I mean who – I might see there. I sigh in relief when I see the face, and then I giggle. Storm looks really funny when he sleeps.

Oh. Whoops! I think I woke him up. His eyes open slowly and I can see him trying to focus. He seems taken aback at first, but then it looks as if he remembers something, and his face calms into a serene, peaceful state.

I let him breathe for a second, but then I pounce with the burning question.

"What the heck are you doing in my room?" I ask him.

"Uh – well, you see, you fell asleep practically on top of me, so I brought you back here, and…" He trails off, almost like he doesn't remember himself. "I guess I fell asleep here. Oh. Dang."

"What?" I give him a puzzled expression as he turns to the door.

"Let's just hope there are no cameras in here."

"You're confusing me."

"Even if we do win, your dad will finish me off when we get back home." Storm turns to grin at me. The grin isn't exactly sheepish, but it's not exactly mischievous either. Kind of a mixture of both. Weird. Why did I notice that? That's a dumb thing to notice – a grin. I mean, it's a facial expression for crying out – let me just stop there.

"Well, we have to win first. Speaking of which, you might want to get out of here before Camellia barges in here," I laugh.

"Oh, yeah. Right. I should probably do that." He gives me another winning grin before heading out of my room.

I get changed quickly and leave my room to get breakfast.

When I arrive at the breakfast room, I get mixed vibes. The really big guys are all stuffing themselves silly, knowing that they're going to win. The shrimpy guys on the other hand, are timidly eating one or two bites of everything, like they're not quite sure if they like any of it.

The girls are a totally different story. All 12 of them are in a circle, talking. Some are teary already, and others have this dead look of defeat about them. Creepy.

I glance at Storm as he walks in and nod my head over towards the girls and then raise my eyebrows. Silent speak for "I'm going to sit over there with the girls. You going to be okay?" He squints his eyes for a second like he's trying to process what I meant. A second later, his face clears. He got it. Storm nods at me and heads over to the buffet line. I'm hungry, but I'll wait a little while.

As I walk towards the girl circle, Chryssi sees me and smiles. Okay. I am now officially invited to join the group. She pats the floor next to her and I plop down.

"Good morning!" I say as cheerfully as I can muster.

"'Morning" comes the not so cheerful reply. They resume conversation and I figure out that they're not talking strategy, but they're making a list… Oh. No. They think that it's about 75% chance a girl will win this year, so each one of us is going to keep a list of each other's families. If one of us wins, on the Victory Tour, we can personally talk to all of the families of girls. I write down my parents names on the 13 passing lists. The last one I get, I fold up and put in a safe place; in my shoe.

Breakfast after that is uneventful. A certain silence ominously foreshadows the coming events. I shove down as much food as possible and drink about 8 glasses of juice. That should be enough, right? If I don't puke, that is. Camellia finds Storm and I and ushers us off to separate rooms. We barely have time to say goodbye! Not like we'll be separated for that long, though.

Acada is there in the Launch Room to help me get ready. He pulls the clothes out of the bag and helps me dress. When he pulls out the last thing, it just about puts me over the top. Dad's necklace gets placed around my neck and then I look down. This is the same stuff as the 74th Games. Okay. Creepy. I eat a little more and get on the Launch Pad, ready to go up.

"You know, I'm not allowed to bet," Acada says, "but if I was, I'd put my money on you and Storm getting out of there."

And that's it. The last thing anyone says to me before I'm in the Hunger Games.

Suddenly, I'm standing in a field. Oh. No.

This is the exact same arena that was used in the 74th Hunger Games. And now, let the Games begin.

**Yesh. Short chappie. I was at camp and then I was on vacation, so don't kill me. I'll try to update really fast next time!**


	18. The Bloodbath

**I'm back! And I don't own the Hunger Games! Just saying! And here we are, finally in the Games…**

_Aster's POV_

Wait, the 74th? Are they just trying to taunt me? Okay, Aster. Pull yourself together. Come on. I have a good 30 seconds left. Come on. Strategy. Knives. My specialty. I see a patch of knives and am slightly reassured. Slightly. And then the gong sounds.

I'm pelting towards the golden Cornucopia. When I reach it, I manage to grab a highlighter yellow sack, a spear of some sort and – YES! – 4 knives.

I feel a tug at my heel and whirl around to stab someone in the chest. I think it's that guy from 3. His name sounded something like fizzy… Whatever. I remove my knife from his chest as he moans on the ground. Ha. Dead in minutes probably. Hey! That sucker had a bow! I turn him over and practically rip the quiver off his back while simultaneously jerking the bow out of his unmoving hand.

A whistling noise comes past my head and I turn just in time to grab the flying knife by the hilt. Booyah! Oh my gosh, no.

~FLASHBACK~

Daddy coming home on Wednesday means two things: first, he'll lie to Mommy telling her he's taking me to get ice cream; second, he'll take me back to his work to "try out" his new toys and things. He's really careful, but I still get hurt a lot. I cry sometimes, but he holds me and tells me that I'm very brave for a 6 year old.

Today, though, he has me try out the worst toy yet. He calls it the Whistle. It's a special knife that remembers the last person that holds it. If you activate the button on the side, when you snap your fingers, it'll come back to you. This is my favorite knife. On my 3rd time throwing it, I sense something is wrong and catch the blade accidentally. OW! DADDY! It sinks into my skin as I cry out in pain. Daddy rushes over to me and bandages it. That's it for tonight. On the way home, he does buy me ice cream, so I feel a little better. I love my Daddy. And he loves me.

~END OF FLASHBACK~

I shake myself out of it. Over the years I mastered the Whistle. Dad's a weapon designer in 2, and when he couldn't find people to test the more dangerous things, more often than not, I tested them. Mom never found out. She still thinks that Dad takes me out to dinner (ice cream got a little old as I began to grow) every Wednesday. And he does take me to dinner, but not before I test out a new knife or bomb that shoots darts or a spear or something of that nature.

It hits me; these are Dad's weapons. They stole his designs and put them into their hideous games. I almost throw the Whistle down when I remember. I know how to use every one of these weapons. I tested all of them. I have an advantage. Oh yeah.

Suddenly, I'm ripped back into reality and I whip the spear off the ground where I dropped it. I aimit at… What's his name? Loorum, I think. Out of sheer luck, someone was standing right behind the Loorum kid and both of them get skewered. Ouch. That's got to hurt. I get a look at the second guy and his name comes to me: Marsh. He's from 9 or 10… I think. Eh, whatever.

I turn to see… Er… I think it's Kyla. Not Kyli. But Kyla. She's on the ground with a knife in her head. Oosh! That had to hurt. Well, the more older people out, the better.

I catch a glimpse of Storm's blonde hair streaking toward Hailand. Haha! I know his name! Storm hits him in the chest with the hilt of his sword and slits the poor guys throat before I can turn away. Ew!

Suddenly, I hear something on my left and swing my throwing arm around, giving me momentum. The blade slams into the poor dude's head. Okay, that was the guy from 10. Rye. Yeah, that's it. Rye. As in the bread. Wow. So original.

I decide it's time to put my bow into use. I grab an arrow from the quiver and swing it into place all while picking a target. Well, since Rye's gone, might as well kill his partner, Sava. As I shoot, she turns to look at me and I feel a pang of guilt, but not for long.

I'm slammed to the ground. Apparently, there was a battle going on behind me that I didn't know about. Finn is now on top of me. I wriggle my way out from under him and realize Finn just killed Rilly, the girl from 1. His eyes are full of bloodlust as he turns my way. His gaze softens a bit as he sees me. Titan clobbers him and the look returns to his eyes. I feel a hand on my shoulder and whirl, but stop my knife just in time; it's just Storm.

"We need to get out of here," he tells me seriously. Well duh.

"Alright," I tell him, already aiming at my next victim. "Give me 5 minutes and we'll meet over there in the woods." I run off in the other direction so as to not give him any time to respond and tell me it's a stupid plan. Which it is. And I know that. But do I care? No. Because I'm gonna take out everyone possible here and now.

I hear a whining sound near my left side and immediately throw my hand up next to my neck. My index finger and thumb close quickly around a dart. I turn on my heel. The boy from 13 is there with the dart gun.

"Is this your dart?" I ask all cutesy and stuff giving him a preppy smile. He kinda nods and starts to back away. "Oh! Well, here ya go!" I stick it in his chest right about his heart. Deggor looks shocked. He falls to his knees. "Oops!" I say, putting a hand up to my mouth. "Sorry! Didn't mean to- Oh what am I saying?" I drop the girly voice and sneer at him. "I'm not sorry at all." I snarl.

As I turn back around, I see Rilly and what appears to be Zillia dead. A pang of guilt consumes me for a second, but I shake it off.

Alright, time to go now. As I run towards the trees, I throw my last knife at what appears to be Veize. It hits its mark.

"What were you thinking?" Storm whirls me around to face him.

"I was thinking we need to take out everyone possible before they disappear.

"Well now you lost all of your knives," he says.

"No I didn't!" I tell him, grinning.

"What do you mean?" he asks, suspiciously.

In reply, I snap my fingers and duck behind a tree, dragging him with me.

The satisfying thumps of 5 knives, and arrow, and a spear silence Storm.

"How did you-" he starts.

"My dad designed all of these," I say simply.

"Your dad designed… No. I'm not gonna ask." Storm shakes his head.

I take this as my cue to remove all of my weapons from the tree. The arrow goes back in the quiver, the spear I carry, and the knives go into the yellow bag. And we're on the move.

"So where are we going?" Storm asks.

"To water," is my answer.

Suddenly, we hear cannons. One… two…three…four…five…six…seven…eight…nine…ten…eleven… Eleven in all. Wow. I killed seven of those.

As if reading my mind, Storm says, "I killed Rilly. Who'd you get?"

"Deggor, Veize, Fysei, Loorum, Marsh, Rye, and… Sava!" I say counting on my fingers.

Storm just stares at me. "Dang."

**So, did ya like it? TELL ME! REVIEW!**


	19. Disturbing News and Foliage

**AN: Sorry! I was at the beach for a week. Yeah. So anyway, here I am, hopefully writing a chapter in a day. Oh boy. Here I go. Oh by the way, anyone watch the GLEE PROJECT? I LOVE DAMIAN! My mom saw him in concert with Celtic Thunder. Oh yeah. Before the Glee Project. I 3 Damian.**

_Storm's POV_

"Come on then. Let's go find our water," I tell Aster.

"Alright," she says, standing up from returning her knives to their proper location.

We walk in silence for what seems like forever, but finally, when the sun has just started setting behind the trees for the night, we find a little stream. I turn to Aster with a grin on my face and find her face twisted in horror.

"What?" I ask, scanning her back for any possible knives/darts/etc. She just points to a rock across the stream. I raise my left eyebrow before looking to where she pointed. There's a smear of… Blood? It's dried and faded and… Somewhat familiar…

"What the heck?" I turn back to Aster. Her face has cleared the horror and has assumed a look of worry.

"Did your parents ever show you their Games?" she asks with all seriousness.

"No…" I raise my eyebrow to her.

She bites her lip. "That's your father's blood."

"Okay! I'm officially creeped out. How the heck do you know that?" I ask her, slowly backing away.

"Well… This is the arena of the 74th. And if we came the right way…" She pauses here to look downstream. "Which I think I am. That pile of dirt over there," she points to a pile of dried mud and dead plants, "is where your dad almost died and where your mother found him. If that's so, then that cave over there must be where they hid the rest of the Games…" I see the cave immediately.

"Are you proposing we stay in the same dang cave?" I ask her with a that's-really-corny face on.

"Yes that's exactly what I'm proposing," she says with a firm nod. "And unless you have a better idea, that's where we will be staying." Aster turns to me, and, finding my blank stare, she turns and starts picking her way to said cave. "I think I'm the only one who's figured it out, so we should be safe. After all, only one tribute ever found them in that cave," Aster says rather loudly.

"If you keep talking that loudly someone will be on us as fast as you can say squirrel," I hiss at her back.

"Squirrel." She turns to me with a did-you-really-just-say-that face. "Don't freak out! We have 3 distinct advantages."

"Oh? And what might those be?" I ask her as we dump our stuff in the mouth of the cave and crawl in. It's actually pretty roomy.

"One – we know the territory. Two – your parents won the Games on this territory. And three – I know how to use every one of these weapons," Aster says smartly.

"Okay! You win," I surrender throwing my hands up. She smiles at me and then starts out of the cave with her bow and arrows. "Wait, wait, wait! What are you doing?" I ask her incredulously.

"I'm going to get dinner. Fill the 2 water skins in our packs with water and put… Uh… 5 drops of the iodine in the little bottle in my bag into each one and let it sit for half an hour." Dang she's good at yelling instructions. I do what she told me and by time the half an hour is up, she's back with 2 rabbits and a squirrel.

"You know how to skin stuff?" she asks while pulling off the gear.

"Yeah," I say warily. In a second the 2 rabbits and squirrel are in my lap. Aster hands me a knife.

"I can't without taking off good chunks of the meat in the process," she explains. "Alright, I'm going to get some wood and herbs of some sort," she sighs. "You'll be okay here?" Aster turns to me for the first time since she got back.

I blink and nod to her. "Okay," she says, getting 3 of the 5 knives and her highlighter yellow sack.

Once she's gone I sigh and start cutting off the heads of her kills. I absentmindedly skin them and put them on sticks so they're ready when Aster gets back. She's gone for a long time and I start to get worried. Just as I'm about to go looking for her though, she returns with an armful of branches and some… Foliage… Whatever.

She starts the fire and cooks everything in the span of about 20 minutes. It's finally getting dark when she finishes toasting the foliage stuff. She hands me a crispy squirrel leg and some foliage. Yep! That's what I'm going to call it. Foliage. It tastes disgusting, but what the heck. It's food.

We finish in silence and pack up our stuff in case of a quick wakeup call.

"I'll take first watch," I volunteer. I'm wide awake anyway. Why make Aster stay up.

"Alright. Wake me up when you get tired," she yawns. "Dirt is not comfortable."

I laugh. "Here." I lift her head and move it to my chest gently. Aster snuggles up next to me and she's out in about a minute. I sigh, trying not to disturb her. This is going to be a long night. Hehe. Foliage.

**DID YA LIKE IT? TELL ME! I'm open for comments, suggestions, criticism (the building kind), and discussions about Damian McGinty Jr. *Sigh* I love Damian. He and Cameron are my new wallpaper. Oh! And if you want to see PICS OF STORM AND ASTER go to my page. And I also just realized that in the beginning I think I kept switching Storm's hair color! Whoops! And I accidentally said he killed the wrong person in the last chapter. SORRY! Hope you enjoy! ~Lilia Sparks**


	20. Hugs, Ambushes, and Home

**Alrighty then! Here I am. I'm bored and you know what that means! ANOTHER CHAPTER! I still have 1 day until school *sob*. Hope you like it. REVIEW!**

**I am NOT Suzanne Collins. (Though popular belief might say I am. )**

_Aster's POV_

I awaken to the sunlight streaming into our cave. After the initial grogginess, it hits me. My head is rising and falling… WHAT?

"Morning," a voice above my head says.

I was SLEEPING on Storm's chest? At this point, whatever. It was comfortable.

I roll over back onto the hard, cold earth. "Morning," I grin at him.

He looks really tired. Almost as if he stayed up all night… "You never woke me up?" I ask him.

"You looked so peaceful sleeping, I didn't feel like waking you. I'm fine!" he adds after I give him a pleading look.

"Whatever. Just let me go get breakfast." I leave him to (hopefully) take a nap while I go scrounge up… Something… One look at our meager pile of food and I grimace. Looks like we'll be having cold rabbit and herbs. Yay. I grab it and attempt to warm it on a small fire, stalling to give Storm a longer nap. Sure enough, as I bring in the breakfast, he's fast asleep curled up in a little ball, drool coming out of his mouth. I grin and raise my left eyebrow.

My rabbit is devoured in silence. Only as I'm finishing off the last bit of water does Sleeping Beauty awaken. "Nice to see you're still alive," I comment as he trudges out of the mouth of the cave.

"Rabbit. And it's cold. Nice to see you still love me," he says dryly, stretching his arms.

I'm taken aback at first. Love him? When did I ever say that I loved him? I give him a "What?" look. His eyes penetrate mine and I get the message; a) for show b) we're practically best friends. And I do love him. But not like that. Just getting that straight. I nod back at Storm and come up with a witty comment that would throw people off the track. Ah. There we go.

"It was that or raw squirrel, dearest," I laugh ruefully.

Storm shoots me a grin as he digs into his rabbit. As he's finishing up, we hear a cannon.

"Is it too much to hope that that was Aerogan?" Storm asks me, looking worriedly at the sky, as if the picture would shoot up now.

"What do you have against him? He's on our side! You saw him against Titan!" I plead.

"He's too likeable. The likeable ones always backstab you. Literally," he replies grimly, headed back into the cave.

I don't question his intuition.

"I'm thinking it was one of the girls, like Kyli or Soia or Quassina," I reason.

"Yeah. That does sound more logical. But I think Reke'll be protecting Kyli. I mean, they are cousins. And if Kyli goes down, it'll have been Titan or Finn or Aerogan. And Reke will get his revenge." The last word almost echoes off the small space of the cave.

Silence reigns for a few minutes. I get my gear ready to go hunting again. Finally I break the silent thoughts of anxiety and worry. "I'm going hunting. I'll scream if anything goes wrong, okay?" I look up at Storm. His face is a picture of worry. His eyes lift to meet mine and they fill with power. Angry power.

"Yeah, okay," he says looking back at the ground.

"Hey," I say gently, walking towards him, "are you okay? Don't lie." I put my hand on his back trying to be comforting and kinda failing.

In one fluid movement, he stands up and pulls me to his chest, resting his head on top of mine. I'm stunned for a second, but then I bring my arms up to his lower back and hug him back. We stay like this for a long time, and when we let go, neither of us want to. I felt so safe in his arms, almost like back when I was 5 and Daddy used to hold me at night right before he tucked me into bed. But as I grew older, I learned that no one – especially in the Hunger Games – could ever make you feel absolutely safe, but Storm had just defied that. And I couldn't deny that there was a spark. Yes, it was tiny, but it was there.

I leave the awkward silence to go hunt. As I make my way past trees, being as quiet as possible, I hear the quiet sounds of game. But after about 5 minutes of walking, I also hear the sound of quiet human voices. Girls' voices. The voices of death. I know I'm about to be ambushed.

The tell-tale sound of a whistling arrow comes behind me to the left. I duck and quickly leap back up as another soon follows. I whip out my knives and spin one in each hand, whirling around at the same time. Huh? Oh! Now I remember them. Two girls about 17 from 5 and 13. So that would be… Em and Soia. Great! They have 3 years, 4 inches, and about 100 pounds on me. This'll be fun.

I bend my knees and keep my feet apart, making sure I won't fall over. Balance is the one thing that'll kill you in the Hunger Games if you lose it. Soia's armed with a bow and an almost full quiver of arrows while Em has a spear. Tricky, spears are. You have to watch out for them. They're like knives, but heavier and kill people way faster. Alright, let it begin.

Soia takes the first move. She slings an arrow straight out of the quiver using her left hand. I dodge it, but notice a whistling sound in my ear. Oh, crap! I roll to the left and stand back up, throwing one that hits Em square in the chest. One down, one to go. Haha! I've definitely got her here! I move in to take the final stab while Soia busy fumbling with the bow. Her hands are shaking and I know that if she makes it out of this, she'll probably go raving mad. Better to pick her off now.

Just as I raise my knife, she whips her jacket open to reveal a sword. Crap. I'm in for it now. And she's pretty darn good with her sword, too. I'll have to get it for Storm. I fake to the left and move in to stab her side, but she sees it and goes a step ahead of me.

Suddenly, there's a wave of pain in my arm. I do a quick check. Yes, it's still there. It's bleeding pretty badly, though. I grimace but grit my teeth; I must not die now.

This time I see her moves ahead of time and parry every blow she puts out. Then I see a loop and twist my hand a few ways. Her sword goes flying and I pin her down with my knee. A cannon goes off. That'll be Em.

Soia mouths one word: please. She wants me to give her a quick death. Alright. I'll grant her the final wish.

She closes her eyes and actually looks very peaceful. I stand and raise my right hand to kill her. I throw with all of my might, hoping that it'll drive through her heart all the way to her spinal cord.

A cannon goes off. She's gone.

I trudge back to the cave with the precious sword. It's still covered in blood. Gues that would be mine. On the way back, I grab a couple of rabbits. I just ended the lives of 2 more people.

When Storm looks up and sees me, he drops everything and runs to me. He holds me close and asks what happened. I tell him the whole story as he tears up his shirt and wraps my arm in it. The cut wasn't too deep, but it still hurt. While I eat my rabbit and greens vigorously, he tells me about his afternoon. Same old, same old.

As I lay the meager blanket out, I remember the sword.

"Hey, I got this for you," I say timidly, producing the sword from my gear.

He turns and smiles at the sight of it. "Now I'll feel productive." As the anthem blares, his smile fades into his now usual face full of concern, worry, anxiety, and grief.

Em's face comes first, then… Friely… Dang! I was hoping for Titan. After Friely comes Soia, and then it's all over. While I was near Soia and Em's camp, I stole all of their stuff. I mean, they won't be needing it where they're going. So I pull out their heat reflecting sleeping bag and lay it out. Storm's out filling the water bottles for tomorrow. I can hear him singing something under his breath.

"_I'm coming home. I'm coming home. Tell the world that I'm coming home. Let the rain wash away all the pain of yesterday. I know my kingdom awaits. And they've forgiven my mistakes. I'm coming home. I'm coming home. Tell the world that I'm coming… Home."_

I love that song! He starts the chorus over again as I slowly approach. I crouch down next to him at the rain wash away part. He senses me and smiles singing a little louder. I harmonize when he gets to the kingdom part. We sing the rest to the end of the chorus in harmony.

"You like that song, too?" he sighs tiredly.

"Yeah. I do," I tell him, looking up at the stars. I know that they aren't my stars. My stars are at home. I will come home. I swear it to myself as Storm snuggles into the sleeping bag.

"My watch," I grin.

"Okay, but two things," he says firmly. I nod for him to continue.

"You have to be in the bag, and you have to wake me up when you get tired."

I sigh. "Alright, bossy."

I get into the bag next to him and automatically lay my head on his chest. I catch myself a second too late and look up at him with a flustered face. He grins at me and nods. I smile a slight smile at him in appreciation and lay back on his chest. He settles into a comfortable position and wraps his arms across me protectively. His hands rest on my tummy.

As I watch the fake stars, I'm happy. Storm and I are best friends. I know that now.

I will come home.

**Did ya like it? TELL ME! I had the song stuck in my head so here it is! It took me three days to write and yes, I know, they "did this" and "did that". It's hard to do, trust me.**

**REVIEW!**


	21. My Forrest Chapter

**UPDATE! I fixed the link problem and now you can watch it**

**I know, I haven't had a chapter up in like 3 weeks, but I'm still trying to get used to school again. But I have tomorrow off, so here I am.**

**DISCLAIMER: I am not the magnificent Suzanne Collins or the awesome Alan Silvestri (you'll see)**

_Storm's POV_

I wake up to the sounds of screaming. A girl's scream. My heart stops for a second until I realize Aster is still lying on my chest. She feels the change in my breathing pattern and tilts her head back to look at me upside-down. A rueful grin crosses her face that looks like a frown from her upside-down position. I try hard to grin back and apparently come up a little shy. Aster's smile fades into a worried look. I sigh through my teeth.

"You let me sleep all night. I should have known." I shake my head half to myself, half for the cameras I know may be watching. A cannon sounds in the distance followed by an agonized wail. I wince in spite of myself. My eyes turn to Aster, wondering if she knew who it was that was just killed and conveying that through my expression.

"Yes I did, just like you did last night. And Lyssa, I think." She gets up and starts getting ready for the day.

"So would that sad wail coming from that general direction have been Finn or Aerogan?" I sigh, half of me not really wanting to hear the answer.

"Probably Aerogan. I think they were dating or something. And I bet Reke killed her. Cuz I bet Lyssa and Aerogan killed Kyli."

Whoah. All that from 2 screams and a cannon. Dang, she's good. I just nod like I totally comprehended what she just said. "So that means we're down to 11," I say, looking off into the distance, like I'm calculating the odds of whether we'll find them first or vice versa.

**(AN: Okay, now open another tab and go to youtube and then put this on the end /watch?v=EpK_O6upVqA&feature=fvst and go to 3:20 and then keep reading)**

I get no reply. I look to where Aster is standing. Her head is straight forward, hair blowing in the slight breeze we have outside the cave. The sun is just rising over the trees and it hits her hair just right. I see pure beauty for a moment before she turns to me with a face full of sadness and worry that has become the normal for the both of us. She smiles at me with her tired eyes and I see a glimmer of hope. A glimmer of wisdom and strength that only Aster can possess.

She turns to the stream and sits, gently touching the flowing trickle of water as it makes its way to where ever this stream leads. But with it, it takes some of the dirt and grime of our long journey. I look up at the sky and join her by our source of life in this dark world. That's what it is. That's what it symbolizes. The stream doesn't only give us life; it gives life to every other creature here. It provides safety by concealing the steps we take and cleansing us from the impurities of the world.

Aster looks beautiful sitting there, next to me, her hair blowing softly to my face. It's amazing how good someone can look when they've been in the woods for a while. She's covered in dirt, but that doesn't matter. Natural beauty is found on the inside and the out. Most girls have it in one place or the other. But the lucky few that have natural beauty on the inside and the out, now those are the girls worth fighting for. The ones that love you for who you are and not what you look like or what you stand for. The ones that love your heart, not your brain that makes all the money. The ones like my mom, who need convincing, but really are the best in the end.

I wasn't really sure, but now I know; Aster is definitely one of those lucky few. She is the one that I'm going to fight for. But I can't tell her now. Reality would blow an innocent thought of a child out of proportion so I mustn't let my feelings get ahead of me. Aster is worth the wait. And right now, I should take the time to get to know her the best I can. You never know when you might lose that time and wish you had it back.

I think I love Aster Hawthorne.

**Stop the music before it gets to 5:00. It gets depressing again after that. Did you like my descriptive fluff? I felt I needed a fast but meaningful chapter and I've been listening to this song all day long. And I love it. And it's 12:34 A.M. And I really could care less. **

**SO DID YA LIKE IT? DID YOU LIKE MY FORREST CHAPTER? TELL ME! REVIEW!**

**No, seriously, REEEEEEVVVVVVIEEEEWWWWW!**


	22. Depression, Tears, and Fluff

**Hey peoples! So I didn't get many reviews on the last chapter and I just figured out why. The music link is PRIVATE! It wasn't 2 weeks ago, I swear. I found a new one and posted it, so if you didn't hear the music, go back and listen to it. Alan Silvestri is flippin phenomenal. I just about cry every time I hear that song!**

**If you guys have any ideas for a song chapter, put it in a review or pm me. I LOVE song chapters. **

_Aster's POV_

My head is seriously killing me. Not to mention my arm. Oh. My. Goodness. It feels like it's about to fall off. The only thing I thought to do was just numb all feeling. So I just don't have any emotion right now.

As I look at Storm, I see the pain edged on his face. I think that might be permanent. I hope not though. I love his smile. I can't bear to see it gone. Gosh, I can't bear to see him slowly losing his humanity. Come to think of it, I am too.

He looks over at me and gives me a slight smile, the best either of us can muster at the moment. I give him my best grin and his tired eyes warm a bit. A shiver runs down my spine and the warmth of his gaze fades to the usual worried look. He scoots closer to me and I to him and we huddle as it begins to rain. I lost track of time after noon today, when I sat by the stream with Storm. We sat there a long time, just watching the world in silence.

The rain begins to get harder and harder, and I know the Gamemakers are trying to do something. Just not with us. Probably drive a fight or something elsewhere. Not that I care. I don't think I really can care about anything at the moment. My life has become a numb void of depression. A pit of sorrow. A chasm of despair. I feel… Nothing… Except sorrow. Only two moments out of the day seem to bring hope and those are the sun rising and setting, telling us there is a tomorrow.

Storm and I sit in silence, staring up at the rain. As time passes, a tear slowly rolls down my cheek. It makes it way down the side of my dirty face and lands on Storm's hand, which is holding mine. He notices and turns to me, those sorrowful eyes now full of concern for me. The look says all: "I want to help, but I don't know how. I want to comfort you, but I'm scared I'll do it wrong. I don't want to mess this up." I grin ruefully up at him and he returns with a questioning corner of the mouth.

I sigh as reality pulls me back in. As my gaze returns to the sky, tears start running freely from my eyes. Storm lets go of my hand and I pull both of them up to my face, shielding myself from the knowing eyes watching us.

I steal a glance at Storm after I've gotten a grip on myself. He's turned away from me, crying, too, I can see. Oh, gosh. This is bad. Now we're both crying. I close my eyes for a second to calm myself and move over next to him, hugging him from behind.

He takes my hand in his and presses it to his lips. A sparkle of something runs through me, but I almost can't identify it. It comes back to me though, that's a sparkle of hope, and even now, I can see a tiny rainbow forming our horizon that's not filled with trees.

The rain has stopped and now all is returning to its original state. Flowers no longer look sad and droopy, but they look full of life once more, and the sparkle of hope in me grows. Just to test it, I try to smile. To my surprise, I find that I don't have to strain to get a grin out. A sigh happiness escapes my lips and I immediately regret it. Storm turns to me, a questioning look in his dark, wet eyes. I smile back at him and stand, stretching my legs.

We walk outside of the cave together and finally, for the first time that day, I speak.

"It's a rainbow," I point in its direction.

"Sure is." Storm's voice sounds a tad gravelly, like someone who has just had a good cry, which I guess he kinda has had just now.

We walk and talk together for the rest of the afternoon into early evening. And finally, as nighttime arrives, we decide to retire to the cave for the night. Together, the last bit of food is demolished.

"I'll hunt tomorrow," I nod to Storm. He grins back.

"I thought I lost you there for a while."

I look up at him. "What do you mean?"

"Well," he started, turning his head towards the setting sun, "you kinda seemed depressed for a while, and I was afraid that even if we did both make it out of this mess, you would never be the same…"

"Aww, you know me!" I punch him playfully in the arm. "I would have bounced back for you!" A true smile crosses my face for the first time that day.

"I'm just glad you're back," he smiles back.

"I am too."

Just as I think the dialogue is done for the night, Storm leans over to me.

"Just one last thing," he says.

"What?" I say, cocking my head to the right.

"Just this." And with that last brilliant statement he leans in and kisses me on the lips. And surprisingly, I like it. I kiss back and close my eyes for the full effect.

After about 15 seconds, he leans back, slightly out of breath and clearly embarrassed, which is the perfect camera reaction. I smile at him and tuck a stray end of hair behind my ear. He gives me a lopsided grin, too.

And the funny thing is, I think I came to a conclusion.

I think I love Storm Mellark.

**Ehh… Not so pumped about the ending, but more to come! I'm bursting with ideas and I think the "big action" will be coming in the next few chapters. And you know the drill.**

_**REVIEW!**_

_**(you get a kumquat if you do )**_


	23. Tangled Up in a Mess

**Hey I'm BACK! Yerp. After a fluff ending, we're back to the grind. All in one night. Am I impressive, or what? Oh and for my loyal readers who weren't on last night, I posted 2 chappies. So go back and read the previous. And don't forget to review. Please.**

**Just in case you didn't know, I'm not Suzanne Collins (and actually, I've found I don't want to be. If you want to know the story on that, ask me in a review.)**

_Storm's POV_

So the morning after the kiss. I was thinking it'd be a tad awkward, but Aster just kinda seemed to forget about it. She went hunting while I guarded. Again. It gets boring after a while, so you start humming, right? And what pops into my head, but a song from one of my favorite movies, which happens to be (don't laugh) Tangled. Zachary Levi is one of my all time faves. Yep. Tangled. So I start humming I See the Light about midmorning and pretty soon, it gets stuck in my head so I start adding the words, and by the time Aster gets back, I can sing the entire thing like I just heard it a few minutes ago.

When she returns, I quit singing, but pretty soon, I'm humming again. She notices and almost laughs out loud. "I love that song!" So what does she do? She's Aster, so she starts singing. Of course.

_All those days watching from the windows  
All those years outside looking in  
All that time never even knowing  
Just how blind I've been  
Now I'm here, blinking in the starlight  
Now I'm here, suddenly I see  
Standing here, it's all so clear  
I'm where I am meant to be_

_And at last I see the light  
And it's like the fog has lifted  
And at last I see the light  
And it's like the sky is new  
And it's warm and real and bright  
And the world has somehow shifted  
All at once everything looks different  
Now that I see you_

So now comes Eugene's part, right? So what do I do? I start singing. Duh.

_All those days chasing down a daydream  
All those years living in a blur  
All that time never truly seeing  
Things, the way they were  
Now she's here shining in the starlight  
Now she's here, suddenly I know  
If she's here it's crystal clear  
I'm where I'm meant to go_

On the last bit, we switch off. First we sing together

_And at last I see the light_

Then I sing a line.

_And it's like the fog has lifted_

Then we sing together again.

_And at last I see the light_

Then Aster sings a line with the most beautiful note of the song.

_And it's like the sky is new!_

And of course, she does it perfectly. We sing in harmony the rest of the song.

_And it's warm and real and bright_

_And the world has somehow shifted_

_All at once, everything looks different_

_Now that I see you_

The last part, we look at each other dramatically and sing the line in beautiful harmony.

_Now that I see you_

As we finish, Aster giggles and I all but roll on the floor. Figures she knows my favorite song.

"You like that movie, too?" I ask, through my laughter.

"Of course! That's my favorite ringtone now, too," Aster laughs.

I sigh. "Why am I not surprised?" I shake my head at her, grinning.

Our moment is broken by screams. I turn immediately to Aster. Her face is a sheet of ice.

"That was Chryssi," is all I get from her before she bolts upward.

"Aster!" I grab her shoulders. "There's nothing we can do. Might as well stay here and wait. If she's gone, she's gone." My reasoning is logical, but unsympathetic and harsh sounding.

She sighs worriedly and pulls her legs up to her chest. After a minute, she begins rocking back and forth. A cannon goes off and I hear a tiny sniffle.

"We were friends, you know. Not very close, but still," Aster whimpers from her curled up position. I move over to hold her and she lets me, feeling the need for support.

I skin her kill and cook it, coaxing her to eat part of a small squirrel. She's still curled up in the corner of our cave, and I'm getting worried. I don't wanna lose her to that stupid depression wave again.

Then a thought comes to me. What if she's about to start her… Ew. I hope not. That would be a literal mess out here… Ick.

She'll come around by morning. Nothing to worry about… I hope…

**I know, weird. But I couldn't start the action in mid-chapter, so I decided to wait until the next. So you know. **_**REVIEW!**_

_**Just so you know, I'm not posting the next chapter until I have at least 60 reviews. 9 more people. COME ON. **_

_**!**_

_**(you'll get a kumquat)**_


	24. Remember

**I'm back! 3 chapters in less than a week? Some might say this is ludacris! Well Taio Cruz tell 'em how you feel. Yeah, had to. Sorry.**

**REMEMBER: a) I'm not Suzanne Collins b) review with some songs. Pwetty pwease! C) A kumquat is fruit. Cough cough. How could you NOT know that? Cough – Cloud-Lover26 –cough. Just saying!**

**And the songs for this chappie are Remember When – Avril Lavigne (Aster's), I Hope You Dance – Lee Ann Womack (Aster's 2****nd****) and actually Remember When – Alan Jackson (David's). Yerp! 2 Remember When songs!**

_Aster's POV_

The next morning, I wake up feeling slightly refreshed. But just slightly. It's then that I realize 2 things. Chryssi is gone, and Storm took watch for the 2nd night in a row. And that is NOT acceptable. I roll over and see him heating some meat over our meager fire. "You took watch. Again."

"You hunted and then went through a depression moment. Again," he shoots back, not looking at me. "Why does it matter?"

I'm confused. He seems almost mad at me. Why would he be mad at me?

He looks up at me and I give him a confused look. He sighs. "Ah… Well… Are you about to?... Never mind…" Storm shakes his head and turns away again. "You just seem… I dunno… Kinda out of it…"

My mind travels back to a conversation we had before the Games. About girl stuff. I grin.

"I guess I kinda was last night. I'm worried about David. I mean, what if he kills himself? What do I do? I couldn't bear that. Oh, and by the way, no, I'm not," I say, cocking my head.

Storm turns to me and gives me a bemused grin. "David'll be fine. He can take care of himself." He shakes a hand off in the air beside him demonstrating how fine he'll be.

"I'm just worried, though…"

Almost as if I'm physic, a cry of agony comes from the woods. I know that voice. That's David. My face gets really pale as I turn to Storm. He mouths "David" and I nod. We bolt towards the voice, hoping he'll live a little while longer.

_Storm's POV_

As we run blindly through the woods, the voice melts away and suddenly, we're lost. I hear another voice off to the left and check Aster to see if she noticed. She's already running pell-mell of into the distance. I sigh and start off to catch up.

Dang! I lost her! What if the killer's still up there? Oh, gosh. "ASTER!" I yell. I get no reply so I decide to yell again when I almost run into her. "Hey, why'd you—" My eyes travel to where hers are looking and I stop short. David. Bleeding out of his left temple. Only a little trickle, though. And that's good. It'll be less painful to see.

_Aster's POV_

No. No, no, no. David can't die. I can't lose the only one who didn't abandon me.

As I run to his side, I feel as if I'm the one watching from home. Almost like I'm not the one here. Like a clone of me has taken my place.

"David," is all I can get out as I kneel by his side.

"Hey, hey," he says softly, his voice strained. "Remember your promise." How could I forget? At breakfast one morning before the Games started, he made me promise I wouldn't cry when he died. He told me I needed to be strong for him. So, of course, I promised. And now I wish I hadn't.

"Yeah," I say weakly, my heart aching.

"Don't worry about me. I'm going to a better place. I'll be with Chryssi." He tries to smile, but it's a pained one.

"I'm not worried about you," I say miserably. "You're gonna leave me. Just like everyone else did."

"I'm not worried about you, either," David tells me. I give him a confused look and nod for him to continue. "I'm not worried about you because I know Storm'll take care of you."

At the mention of his name, Storm raises his head, his concerned eyes meeting mine and then crossing to David's. A look of understanding replaces the worry in his dark eyes and he tries to grin at me.

David can't seem to conjure up any more speech, so I take his hand in both of mine and wait for the moment when I know I'll have to let go. "Sing," is his plead, and so I comply.

_I hope you never lose your sense of wonder  
You get your fill to eat  
But always keep that hunger  
May you never take one single breath for granted  
God forbid love ever leave you empty handed  
I hope you still feel small  
When you stand by the ocean  
Whenever one door closes, I hope one more opens  
Promise me you'll give faith a fighting chance  
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance  
I hope you dance  
I hope you dance  
I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance  
Never settle for the path of least resistance  
Living might mean taking chances  
But they're worth taking  
Lovin' might be a mistake  
But it's worth making  
Don't let some hell bent heart  
Leave you bitter  
When you come close to selling out  
Reconsider  
Give the heavens above  
More than just a passing glance  
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance  
I hope you dance  
I hope you dance  
I hope you dance  
I hope you dance  
I hope you still feel small  
When you stand by the ocean  
Whenever one door closes, I hope one more opens  
Promise me you'll give faith a fighting chance  
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance  
Dance  
I hope you dance  
I hope you dance  
I hope you dance  
I hope you dance  
I hope you dance  
I hope you dance _

After If finish, David seems able to say one last goodbye; "Remember. Everything we did together. Remember that I never left you. Remember that I always stood by you. Remember how I was always there for you. Remember me. And remember how I always will love you. Bye, Aster," his dark eyes begin to shut as he says his last word. "Remember…"

I stay there, holding his hand for a long time, but it only feels like a second to me. And all too soon, I realize that I must leave, and so I do what I can to honor him. I brush his dark hair back into place and wipe the mud from his face. Finally, I pick the only flower growing in the area and place it in his hand.

To keep myself from crying, I stand and turn to the wilderness. I see Storm, standing there, waiting for me. And beyond him, I see another face. And it all clicks.

Suddenly, I'm sprinting towards that face who realizes a second too late and sprints to get out of the area. I catch him up against a tree and grab the collar of his shirt. "You!" I hiss.

"Aster, listen to me!" Riegan pleads. I look up into his face with accusing eyes.

"You killed him!" I all but yell at him.

"Only because he made me," comes the shocking reply. I don't answer, and Riegan takes that as his cue to continue. "Look, after Chryssi got killed by Titan," I cringe at the name, but Riegan doesn't notice, "David didn't really want to go on. He told me he was too scared to kill himself, so that I had to do it. So I used this." He pulls out a dart gun and hands it to me. I realize what it is immediately. It has numbing darts. It was an act of mercy. Riegan killed David painlessly. But that Capital didn't know that, now did they.

I look up at Riegan, making sure he knows that I know what the gun is.

"The first day of school, right after I tried to look cool and all, right after that, I felt terrible. I tried to apologize, but I never really could. And then when I tried, you just blew me off. And so I never really tried again. But I stood up for you. When all those cool kids dissed you, I stood up for you. I really did." Riegan rushes to get all of his words out.

I know what's coming next, so I let go of his shirt. He eases down the trunk of the tree and sits there, waiting for his demise. I sit down next to him and hug him. We do our 8th grade handshake and I smile at him. He smiles back and sighs. "Go ahead. I'm ready."

I pull out the gun and smile ruefully.

"Just one last thing!" Riegan rushes. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry and I love you. You know what I mean. I do, though. I really do love you." I smile at him so he'll shut up and he complies.

I kiss his cheek and shoot one single dart into his brain. I hold his hand while he dies. I talk to him, too. I tell him everything that I'm willing to say on live TV about the last year of my life. He dies holding my hand, but right before he does, I say to him, "I love you, too, Riegan. I really do love you."

**So did ya like it? Tell me! It was really sad, but I think it turned out pretty well. The next chappie is sad, too. And then the one after that is scary. Just to let ya know! Well, gotta go! It's 10:08, so yeah. And BTW, I saw the LION KING IN 3D! That's where I got the whole "Remember" thing from. **

**REVIEW!**


	25. All Those Who Would Dare to Eeeeeee

**And I'm BACK! So I got like 5 reviews on the last chappie! Yayz! And here's more! (BTW – if anyone was wondering, Kyli and Lyssa are not in the top 10… So that means they're already supposed to be dead… Um… Let's pretend they already died… Whoops)**

**Just to let you know, I'm going to be working on NaNoWriMo this month, so don't expect another update until early December… Sorry about that! **

**Remember: I am NOT Suzanne Collins.**

_Storm's POV_

We're in our makeshift camp now. Aster's not speaking. Being all depressed again. Oh gosh, here we go. Again. I think I might go insane this time. Having no one to talk to all day long gets depressing. And then where would we be?

Alright, I should probably start a conversation. So what do I do? I ask the first thing that pops into my head.

"Hey, why are you so afraid of Titan?" Right as I say it, I know that was not a good question choice. She turns to me, her eyes wide.

"Well…" she begins.

"You don't have to answer," I rush, mentally smacking myself for saying it in the first place.

"It's fine. You should know, seeing as it will probably end up affecting you, too." Great. Aster continues.

"He's had it out for me for about a year now… I guess I should have seen it coming… You see, David, Titan, Riegan, me, and this other guy were all best friends in the 8th grade. We were the misfit group, so we made ourselves cool. You know middle school. Always the popularity ladder."

"Well anyway, in 9th grade a couple of things changed. First of all, we were on the bottom again. Second, our group had kinda split up over the summer. And then the big problem was that with all the guys growing so much over the summer, their egos also grew. And that left poor little ole me to fend for myself first day of school."

"So I was at my locker, trying to get it open, cuz that's always a major problem of mine. Opening lockers." Aster sighs and grins ruefully, as if remembering the exact thoughts that ran through her head. "Anyway, these really big seniors decided to pick on the girl they'd heard so much about from their new tough freshman buddy Titan. So they started in on me. So I saw Titan, Riegan, and the other guy all join in and start laughing at me."

"So David never did?" I ask, quickly putting my thought to words.

"David never did. He was the fast thinker that got me out of there. But we had been best friends since we were 5. The others just came later. And I knew I saw some familiar glint in Titan's eye. And so when I got home, I started thinking about it. And I figured out that… Well… You know…" She waves a hand in the air and lets me fill the rest in.

"So what happened with Riegan and the other guy?" I ask eagerly. I guess I'm really getting into the story here.

"Riegan, I knew he felt genuinely sorry. The other guy, he became Titan's new crony and I never heard of him again. I was the lone outcast. David had a popular new girlfriend, so I didn't bother him." Aster looks away, her eyes registering the pain and sorrow that the memory brought.

"You still didn't answer my question."

"Oh, right. Um. I've never really thought about it." She looks back at me. Her eyebrows knit together and suddenly, a light bulb goes off and she looks away again.

"I guess I know that if he ever tried to… ya know… DO that… to me… I know I'd never be able to stop him. And I know he's going to try it. He's stupid, but he knows that one of us has to die. He won't let his chance go to waste."

Pain, confusion, hatred, regret, worry, anxiety, embarrassment, and a bunch of other emotions I can't name flood her eyes before she remembers that we're on live TV. Her eyes dull rapidly and she grins a tiny rueful grin. I grin back at her and open my arms. She scoots closer and buries her head into my shirt. I in turn bury my nose in her hair, which, after all this time, still smells pretty decent.

After a second, I realize she's not crying. She's breathing deeply, calming her stress. That's good. Alright, after 10 minutes, I think she's okay.

Aster stands up, and I take that as my cue to go back to normal. So I do. I go into the cave and start preparing for the night to come. Soon I hear her clear, high voice singing a song that I know very well. My mother loves that song.

_Santa Fe? Are you there?_

_Do you swear you won't forget me._

_If I found you would you let me come and stay?_

_I ain't gettin' any younger._

_And before my dying day_

_I want space!_

_Not just air!_

_They can laugh in my face, _

_I don't care!_

_Save a place!_

_I'll be there._

I join her for the last bit.

_So that's what they call a family._

_Ain't ya glad ya ain't that way?_

_Ain't ya glad ya got a dream called Santa Fe?_

Aster looks at me with a questioning look. "You know that song?" she laughs.

"It's one of my mom's favorites. The Newsies. Gosh. I thought it was a lame movie." At this, she hits me.

"Was not!" she retorts. "It's one of my favorites, too!" She smiles and rolls her eyes.

****NEXT DAY******

_Storm's POV_

"They're not gonna let us live much longer." That's what I wake up to. Joy. The hunger games. We're back to reality. Why can't she be a tad more optimistic?

_Titan's POV (oh, yes. Evil POVs)_

"We need an example," I tell Finn. "I want this rabble they've roused to see what would happen to those who would dare to…" I lose the word I was looking for, so I raise my fists and improvise. "Eeeeee…." Finn nods and we go about setting plans.

**CLIFFY! Not really. Like I said. NaNoWriMo comes first… I'm determined to get a good start, seeing as this is my first year. So I've been planning.**

**TRIVIA: Who said this line? And what movie did it come from? **_**"I want an example. I want this rabble he's roused to see what happens to those who would dare to eeeee." **_**First person to get it right gets a kumquat. Oh yeah.**


	26. Remembering Them

**I'm back! It's been a LOOONG time, I know, but I did NaNoWriMo for the first time and I've been really busy lately. Heck, it's been TWO FLIPPING MONTHS! Insanity, I know, but now with NaNo under my belt (I totally won!) I have lots more experience with writing. I'm loads better now. The style has been improved, the paragraphs are a bit better constructed, and stuff like that. I now also have no clue when words are compound, when they should be hyphenated, and when I should just leave them apart. BUT, I'm back now, and I'm hoping to clear some things up.**

**Everyone that's left:**

D1B – Titan 16

D4B – Finn 18

D7B – Aerogan 16  
D8G – Quassina 17

D11B – Reke 18

D12B – Storm 15  
D12G – Aster 14

**I still have a little ways to go, but we're nearing the end of our journey!**

_Storm's POV_

"They're seven of us left. It might take a while," I muse, sighing. "No telling how long they'll keep us in here."

"I hope it's not much longer," Aster says. "Alright, I can't be depressed anymore. It's killing me."

"Well that's good," I grin. "Not sure I can take much more of it."

"Sorry," she grins sheepishly. "It's been a long…" Aster pauses to count on her fingers. "Week? 2 weeks? How long have we been in the Games?"

"A while," I shrug. We sit in silence for a few minutes before a cannon startles us both.

"Who was that?" Aster asks rhetorically, standing.

"How should I know?" I tell her, a frown setting on my face as we both look out at the sky, pondering who the victim might be. And even worse, who was powerful enough to kill them.

She slaps me lightly and says, "It was rhetorical, stupid." I hear the laughter in her voice, and I know she's fighting that wave of depression. That means she still has hope. In truth, I don't think she ever lost it.

"Is it too much to hope that it was Reke or Aerogan or Finn or Titan?" she asks hopefully.

"If everyone was equal, no. But everyone's not equal here. So it probably is too much to hope," I answer logically.

"Why must you be so brainy?" she sighs, laughing ruefully.

"Would you like me to be less brainy?" I ask, grinning a bit.

"No," Aster tells me. I see the truth in her eyes, the admiration living there. It's nice to have someone appreciate your skills. "If you weren't smart, we'd probably both be dead by now."

"And that's where you're wrong," I say. "As a team, we both have something to bring to the metaphorical table." And now I'm on a role. "Your strength and skill is way more valuable than my brains."

"Actually, I think they're pretty equal," she answers quietly. "We need both of them." Huh. She's right, as much as I hate to admit it.

"And I think it's time to get started on the day," I say confidently, ready to get a move on with whatever we're about to do. We begin working on clearing up the remnants of the previous night's supper, chucking the burnt sticks into the woods (that was he really fun part), and generally getting rid of anything unnecessary to our survival at this point in time.

After a while, I'm pretty bored, and, looking over at Aster, I decide to give the audience a bit of a look-see into Aster's relationships with other guys. She seems to have a whole slew of them, and I'd like to know a few things too.

"Aster?" I ask casually, tossing some more burnt rocks into the river and watching a few skip across the water. They only go a few feet before they splash into the cool, fresh looking water, scaring lots of the fish.

"Yeah?" she answers. I look over to see her gaze flick back to her task: airing out the rest of our stuff. Looks like she gave me the easy jobs. Again. Ah, I shouldn't complain. She assigns them to me in the first place. She could just give me the hard stuff if she wanted to. Does that mean she doesn't trust me to be able to handle big boy stuff? I'll have to talk with her on that one. Or maybe not. I might just be shooting myself in the foot with this one.

"When David and Riegan died, you said you loved them both. What kind of love do you mean?" I know she'll get my meaning by this question, and it's probably only just struck her that the audience back in the Capital and in the Districts might not have gotten her love thing.

"I loved – love – them like I would love my brothers," she says slowly, turning away from me. They were always there for me. Not like Titan and his bunch. They were just the cool guys. The ones you went to when you were an outcast but still wanted to be somebody. Something. Anything at all. They lived on fear. Pure fear. The fear of the rest of the school. And that was the biggest disagreement we ever had. David and Riegan and I hated that we were so feared. It was a terrible reputation. Riegan went back to the fear so he could be somebody for a moment in time, and when they shunned him, he realized. David stayed true to our hatred, but he had Chryssi, and I didn't want to get in his way so…" She trails off, her voice trembling. I can tell it hurts her to talk about her deceased best friends.

"That's what I thought," I say quietly. As I finish tossing my rocks into the river, I wipe my hands on my grubby pants (I can't even remember what they looked like originally) and walk over to Aster. She looks up at me with her eyes only slightly misty. I grin at her, trying to cheer her up. She gets my flow and smiles her best, broad smile that suits her so well. Time to finish these Games.

**REVIEW! Please. I love reading the stuff you guys send me! It's awesome. Right now I'm doing 60D/60K. In the months of January and February (their total days = 60!) you write 60,000 words. Not nearly as daunting as NaNoWriMo. By the way, if you would like to find that, it's floating around on the December and Beyond – Life After NaNoWriMo forum on the nanowrimo website. Check it out. It's awesome. I'm so behind. Anywho! Can't wait to write some more for you guys! I'll have to start another one once this one's done. Suggestions? REVIEW! As always, you get a kumquat! Oh, and tell me who you think died!**


	27. Falling, Foliage, and Fishing  or not

**Okay, I'm back and I'm on a ROLL! Let's see how long I can stretch this roll. I writing this right now. As in, just after I finished the previous chapter, which, by my count, is 25, but by the site count (because I used a tribute list) is 26… I think… Anywho, as of now, I haven't published the last chapter. You guys will have to tell me how long it took me to write this. Today is January 9, 2012. Tally me. Do it. **

**Tributes Still Standing:**

**Top 10**

Storm

Aster

Titan

Finn

Aerogan

Reke

Quassina

**Chapter 26**

_Aster's POV_

"Hey," I say, getting an idea. "I'm going to go hunt some. We're almost out of meat, and I don't know about you, but I don't want to be getting sick off of old meat. That's the last thing we need at this point in the Games." Storm looks over at me, trying to read my hidden words. That's become a habit of ours, reading in between the lines, reading the facial expressions, trying to come up with something else, some extra motive. I try to convey that it's at least something for me to do.

"Alright," he shrugs. I can tell he really doesn't want to sit around here and do nothing for another few hours.

"How about you fish?" I say, throwing something out there. He turns to me, his left eyebrow raised in a what-are-you-getting-at manner. I shrug back, clearly saying, "I dunno."

"I'll do that," he nods dramatically, as if this job is the biggest, best, most important job in the world, which, at this moment, it very well could be. One fish might be the difference between life and death. Starvation and content. Food poisoning and healthiness. If he acts like it's important, then heck, it's important.

I give him a laughing grin and turn back to our ever growing stash of weapons. Two swords stand propped up against the wall, one still partially covered in blood – my own from my battle with Em and Soia. Wow. That seems like centuries ago when really, it's only been a matter of days since their deaths. My five knives sit in a little pile next to two quivers of arrows and the bow. The spear lies at the far back of the cave, right next to where I sleep along with an extra knife from one of my victim's packs. You can never be too careful. The hi-lighter yellow sack is on the cave floor on the other side of our little makeshift bed of sorts. When I checked it earlier it still had a few crackers. We're storing those up. They're REALLY good!

"I'm going to fill the bottles and pick some foliage, too," Storm adds. I look over my shoulder, grabbing three of the best knives and the bow and one of the quivers of arrows.

"Foliage?" I ask, a grin showing under my questioning look.

"That's what I'm calling the green junk – stuff – you picked the first day."

"Nice save," I call back, shaking my head half to myself, half so the cameras see me. I chuckle at his slip and start up towards the more heavily wooded area.

"I'm good at those!" Storm has to yell to be heard over the rush of the stream. I don't even bother turning around; I can already imagine his expression. His whole face will be laughing, and he'll be one foot in the stream. And – wait for it – he's going to – ah. And there he went. Plop. Into the miniature river. I turn in spite of myself. I have to see what mister-oh-so-handsome looks like after a giant fail.

And boy is it great! He looks all flustered, a piece of moss dangling from his left ear and another one plastered to his forehead. The latter hangs over his right eye. His long legs are splayed out in the stream, one on a small rock – that couldn't have been good for balance – and the other soaking wet, the shoe a little ways further down the stream.

I collapse in a heap of laughter right where I'm standing. Oh. My. Gosh. It's HILARIOUS! He gives me an indignant look while picking himself up out of the water. Once I can finally stand and talk without bursting into laughter (which takes a good three minutes), I pick my way back through the grass and small plants.

"Now that you scared all of the fish away," I say, "how about you go get your shoe before it runs off." Storm seems o notice this for the first time and attempts to dash off down the stream to go retrieve it. He almost trips another few times before reaching the runaway shoe, but he successfully catches it without too much trouble.

"So you're good at saves, hmm?" I grin.

"You know it!" he laughs back ruefully. I pick the moss out of his hair and turn to leave again.

"Now I'm actually going to go hunt," I tell him.

"Alright. Bring back a lot!" Storm calls to me. "I'm not sure how much I'll get at this point. But I will fill the water bottles and get foliage!"

"Sure you will!" I imitate him falling into the stream and fall into gales of laughter all over again.

**So that was a fail of a roll. Whatever. This is more of a filler chapter because about halfway through, I realized I had no clue where I wanted this thing to go. So yeah. Fail.**

**I'm not updating until I get at least 5 more reviews. So that's 83 total guys. COME ON!**

**REVIEWS!**


	28. Squirrels and Cold Blood

**Alright so here's some action. I remembered where I was going to go with Aster when she starts hunting. Someone reminded me of something important that I totally forgot and it ended up really fitting into the plot, so thank you that person! (you'll know who you are)**

_Aster's POV_

Walking through the woods used to be a lot of fun for me. I never knew quite what to expect. But here in the Hunger Games, all the fun seems to have been sucked out of the woods. Almost like the Gamemakers took some sort of giant vacuum cleaner and literally vacuumed the arena of fun and bubbly happiness. It sure feels that way.

I shiver in the mildly chilly wind and use the rustling leaves as a cover-up for the noise of my feet walking softly through the trees. My first kill is a little squirrel. It literally falls out of the tree it was in. One of the other squirrels pushed him out of the tree. I almost laugh out loud, but I stop myself just in time to shoot it and get on with my life. Not sure how much of it I have left.

Two rabbits and a beaver thing along with the squirrel are in my sack by the time I'm finally turning back around to head in for the night. Storm'll be worried. And I want him to know I'm okay.

But as I walk through a moss covered clearing, I sense something not right. Out of place. I see a flicker or movement in my peripheral vision and do a quick about-face to see what it is – maybe it's edible – when I see him. Titan. I see a malicious grin on his face and a wet looking cloth in his hand, and I know immediately what he's planning.

"STORM!" I scream before Titan slams the cloth over my mouth and the world melts away before me.

_Storm's POV_

I busy myself tidying up our little residence, filling the bottles, catching a few fish (haha Aster!), and making sure we have enough foliage to last for the rest of the Games. I'm just finishing stacking the foliage in the most ornate little pile of greenery you've ever seen when I hear my name. A girl is screaming my name. And my blood runs cold. I know that voice. It's Aster.

I jump to my feet, dropping everything in my hands and stepping on my foliage pile (which took me two whole hours to create – Leaning Tower of Pisa) in an effort to take off towards the voice. I won't yell back to her because that won't do either of us much good, but I wish she'd scream again. Not because I want her in pain of fear, but because I need a sense of direction. And then it hits me who's found her. And now I'm even more scared. Because Titan will not hesitate to rape her on live television.

A cold sweat is breaking on my forehead as I tear through the woods. I don't care if anyone finds me anymore. "ASTER!" I yell into the blackness; it's getting dark now. I have to find her.

Something stops me dead in my tracks. The sound of a lone cannon going off in the sky. No. It can't be!

**CLIFFY! I know. Sorry. But I know where I'm going again (finally) and we're going to get there. Just hang with me. So did Aster die? I don't know. Guess we'll have to find out.**


	29. Love, Hatred, and Rain

**The suspense! Oh what will happen? I have to get this part out of my system. This is actually one of the first scenes I came up with. And it has some T rated themes, but I assure you, nothing happens. You'll see.**

**I don't own the Hunger Games.**

_Storm's POV_

My entire being is numb as I trudge back to camp. Normally, I would have thought that it was another tribute, but I heard that scream. Aster's dead. And I'm all alone.

I don't even bother checking the sky tonight. I just lie down and try to get some rest. I know I won't be getting any.

I try to think of the happiest thing that's ever happened to me. That would be my 13th birthday party. It was a surprise party, and my parents took me out to eat, like always, and on the way there, we were ambushed by a mob of screaming people! Totally had me freaked. That is until I saw that the mob was my friends and we went to see the release of the most epic movie ever: I Am Number Four. Oh yeah. It was epic. Best birthday ever. But even the thought of my 13th birthday doesn't cheer me up enough.

I fall asleep with a little empty hole in my tummy, and I let a single tear slip down my cheek.

_Aster's POV_

I awaken in what appears to be the early hours of the morning. I'm lying on my side, and Storm has his hands on my… One on my butt and the other on my left boob. Alright this is taking the friendship WAAAAAYYY too far.

As I look up into the sleeping face, everything comes back to me. This isn't Storm. This is Titan. And he hasn't raped me. That I can remember. The thought of what he could have done while I was out cold sends a shiver down my spine, but I catch it just in time.

Slowly, I take his hands off of me, placing them carefully onto the earth beneath us. Cautiously, I roll over away from him, and once I'm far enough away, I spring to my feet and run.

I run blindly into the woods, not really caring where I'm going as long as it's away from him. But I find myself running back to the cave. Back to Storm. Back to safety.

I come bolting around the corner and throw myself into the cave.

_Storm's POV_

I awaken early. It hits me that I actually slept a bit throughout the hard night. But then I remember her. And what happened yesterday. And I die inside again. I sigh and sit up. Might as well prepare myself to die. Might as well just kill myself now and get it over with. I can't go home. Not now. Not without Aster. I can't do it. I can't face her parents knowing I could have saved her life. It ran through my head a million times. How I could have stopped her from going hunting. How I could have gone with her. But I didn't. I didn't.

Just as I'm about to grab my sword and stab myself through the heart, I hear a rustling. My hand moves towards the sword, but the thing comes at me too fast. _OOOOOFFF! _Something rams into me. Hard. And that something has red hair that's all in my mouth.

"Aster!" I almost cry.

"Storm!" she wails. And that's when I realize she's alive. It's her. She's here. She's not dead. And surprisingly enough, she's not crying.

"What happened?" I ask after giving her a minute to calm down. "Did he…"

"No! No! I'm fine. Really. It just scared me. I don't really think he ever planned on really doing it. Maybe he thought it'd be harder to get to me, what with me teaming up with you," she babbles, unable to contain herself. "But, oh, Storm! He's probably out to get me! Even now!"

"Calm down! Calm down," I tell her, stroking her hair. "I'm here. And to get you, he'll have to get through me. "I thought you were dead!" I tell her, looking her dead in the eye. "I heard a cannon right after you screamed, and I just knew that you were dead. But it wasn't you! And I didn't bother checking the sky last night. Wow. That'll be a problem," I say, suddenly realizing that if Aster's not dead, someone else is.

Right then, I hear another rustling. Except this is more like clattering through the forest. And that'll be Titan coming after Aster. "Get behind me," I tell her. She complies and moves towards the back of the cave. I scramble to get out. Can't have the big brute cornering me or anything like that.

He comes tearing through the forest, wild anger in his eyes. He looks ready to kill. Oh, that would be me he wants to kill I guess. I grab my sword, prepared to fight this maniac. Titan looks at me with a sort of confusion on his face, but it's quickly replaced as it clicks in his mind who I am. He comes at me, his short sword raised above his head.

I parry his first few blows and get the feel as to what kind of fighter he is. I can see his blows ahead of time after half a minute of fighting with him. But suddenly, he starts moving faster, swinging his blade faster and faster. And suddenly, I have no clue what he's about to do.

Titan is gaining ground and forcing me further and further back towards the cave where Aster's hopefully still holed up. I find myself caught off guard as Titan does a strange maneuver that I barely block. He quickly returns with a jab at my chest, and he hits me. The blade sinks partially into my skin right above my collarbone on the left side. He yanks it back off and I fall to the ground, pain searing through my whole body. Titan slashes at my legs, cutting my thighs. I stifle a cry of agony and wait for death to consume me. Aster has to escape.

_Aster's POV_

Oh my gosh, no! Storm cannot die here! But I have no clue how to sneak up on Titan. He's right in front of the cave! I'm cornered for sure. If only there was another way out… I look behind me, searching desperately for something, anything that might help me escape the cave, and I see it. A small pile of rocks at the back of the cave. Almost like… Almost like an escape route that the Gamemakers buried in small rocks.

I push on them gently, then more firmly, and sure enough, they give way to reveal a small gap that I can just shimmy through. I grab a few knives, but I have to hurry. Storm can't hold up much longer. I can see blood all around him; he's sitting in a pool of it. Alright this is bad.

I flatten myself to the ground and manage to get myself out of the little hole in the back of the cave wall. I quickly jump up and sneak around the side of our abode, making sure Titan doesn't spot me. I have to be fast; he could kill Storm at any second.

I lift one of the knives above my head and come up behind Titan. He raises his sword above his head like he's about to kill Storm. "Boo!" I hiss in his ear. I jump out in front of him and drive my knife into his heart. I yank it back out hard and fast.

Titan's pupils dilate but then grow back to a giant size as he falls first to his knees, then on his face.

I'm furious now, and I don't know why. Actually, yes I do know why. Because I hate Titan. I hate what he's done to me. What he's turned me into. And I scream as I throw knife after knife into his back, because I hate him. I loathe him. He deserves death after all he's done.

A cannon goes off as I run tear into the woods, tears streaming out of my eyes. Tears of stress and relief. He's finally gone. That's what I keep telling myself as I look up into the sky. It begins to pour rain, and I sink to my knees, my face buried in my hands.

**HE'S DEAD! Oh! What now? Yeah, you'll have to find out. But first, REVIEW!**


	30. That Look in Her Eyes

**So I saw the Hunger Games movie yesterday, and it was EPIC! Loved it! Can't wait to go again! So that got me motivated to write another chapter for you guys! It is spring break after all…**

_Aster's POV_

The rain hits me in sheets as I sob, curled up against a tree. I'm not much of a crier, but this is major. Titan is finally gone, and all of the pent up feelings I had suddenly broken free. But the rain washes away and brings the new, so I'll be fine.

I sit up and wipe my tears away as the rain relentlessly pounds me. I have to go back and find Storm. I should never have left him in the first place.

My trek back to our cave is slightly more difficult because of the rain, but I'm on a mission: find Storm and make sure he doesn't die before we can go home.

Soon enough, I'm running through the woods, in a mental panic that I might have let him die. The thunder would have covered up any cannon that might have gone off.

"Storm!" I call ahead of me. "Storm!" No answer. Alright this is not good.

I burst into our pitiful camp grounds to find Storm lying on the ground. Oh my gosh. He's covered in mud and blood, and I don't see him moving. Oh this is bad…

_Gale's POV_

Watching my daughter in the Hunger Games is bad enough. Watching her almost tortured by a giant thug is worse. Watching her trying to save my best friend's son and not knowing what to do is way too much.

I see the tears in her eyes as she runs toward Storm who is lying on the ground, passed out and covered in blood. She kneels beside him and puts two fingers on his neck. I can see her praying for a pulse. A single tear falls onto Storm's bloody shirt.

My wife Lira buries her head in my chest, and I look over to Peeta and Katniss. They know he's not dead, but Aster doesn't. Peeta's shirt is soaked from Katniss's tears. Their hands are in a tangled mess on Peeta's lap, and Katniss' face is as pale as one of Snow's roses. This is definitely worse for them.

Aster finds a pulse and sighs in relief. She grins down at Storm, and I see an emotion in her eyes. It looks like… No – it can't be. Lira notices too though. She looks up at me, and for the first times since these Games started, she has a tiny grin on her face.

My daughter has love in her eyes.

**Alright, so that's all for now, but I gave a parental POV! I'll also do that in the next chapter, which should be up soon. I'm on spring break!**

**As always, REVIEW!**


	31. When I Am Silent

**I'm back again! So I was toying with the idea of, once this is over, renaming this story Burning Embers. And yes there will be a sequel. But tell me what you guys think of the name! And oh my gosh! It's been over a year since I started writing this thing! On spring break last year, I was writing the dreaded chapter 7… Wow.**

_Peeta's POV_

I hate seeing my wife crying. I really hate seeing my son half dead after saving his new best friend. Storm looks almost as pale as Katniss does right now. Aster's feverishly jerking her shirt over her head and ripping it into strips to put on my son's neck.

"This is way too familiar," Katniss whispers.

"Dad?" Calla asks.

"Yeah, sweetheart?" I smile tiredly.

"Is Storm gonna be okay?" And in that instant, I'm brought back to when my kids were toddlers. I remember watching Storm chase Calla around the meadow on his short little toddler legs. Calla dances around the meadow in her little yellow dress, spinning and twirling. Katniss and I watch them from our window, laughing at their cuteness. Suddenly, I'm sucked back into reality. And reality isn't fun.

_Aster's POV_

I rip my shirt off, not caring if the whole world sees me in my bra. My hands fly as I rip the shirt into pieces. He can't die. I'm not going to let him die.

I press the pad of fabric onto the bloody cut on the left side of the base of Storm's neck. After a couple of seconds, I realize that this is not going to work.

I wrap the rest of the shirt strips around Storm's neck, trying to stop the blood flow. I half carry, half drag him into the cave and prop his feet up on a rock. That should stop the blood from leaving his body so fast. Now we just have to outlast everyone else. No problem.

Oh, Storm, why did you have to try to save me? But I love you, you know. I really hope you know that.

I stroke his matted hair back into place with my fingers, and I lift his head onto my lap.

Storm is my best friend. And I'll always love him. Just like I'll always love Riegan and David. They're all like brothers to me. They'll always be that way.

The collar of my shirt is laying on the ground, and next to it, I see the first aid kit with lots of white cotton bandages. I stretch over and grab the collar and the first aid kit (along with another shirt, courtesy of one of the girl's I murdered – oh. That doesn't sound awful or anything.), and I wrap part of the bandages around Storm's legs. Apparently Titan cut him there, too.

It starts to rain again, and as I stare off into the rain, a song comes to mind. That stupid one about rain making corn. And then corn making whiskey. Retarded. I hate country music. So, so much. And then I start thinking about that song about it raining men. That one always had me cracking up when Mama used to play it. 'It's raining men! Hallelujah it's raining men! Amen!' It was dumb, but I loved dancing around the house to it when I was little.

Then there was this little song Mama used to never sing. But one day, when she was in her and Dad's room all alone, I heard her sing it. And I'll never forget it.

_Who will sing my song when I am silent?_

_Who will count the colors of the dawn?_

_Who will follow the lark's flight?_

_Who will hear it's song_

_When I am silent?_

_Who will sing for me?_

_Who will scent the fragrance of a flower?_

_Who will laugh at snowflakes on the tongue?_

_Who will dance barefoot in the grass?_

_Spinning and twirling and_

_Spinning and twirling to _

_Welcome the warmth of May._

_Who will dance?_

_When I dance no more_

_When I sing no more_

_When I am silent_

_Silent_

_Who will cry for me?_

_Who will cry for me?_

_Who will cry?_

_Who will cry?_

I fall into a hazy sleep, thinking of the song that Mama only sang once.

**Short, yes, but I felt it was right to stop it there. More to come! The Games are coming to a close, and this story might be too! AHH!**

**So REVIEW and tell me what should come next!**


	32. The Sponsors of Epic Proportions

**Seems as though people were getting rather, ahem, aggravated with me because of my, ahem, lack of updating. I really love you guys!**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own The Hunger Games or any of the characters or settings affiliated with the series.**

_Aster's POV_

I awaken to the sound of a parachute beeping outside of the cave. I try to move but find Storm's head on my lap. Oh. Right. Forgot about that. I move Storm's head onto my backpack, which hopefully is equally as soft. That was a weird thought. I shake my head to try and clear it – FYI it doesn't work – and trudge out of the cave to see what our lovely sponsors have awarded us.

The parachute is laying on a rock right outside of our cave, but when I pick it up, it feels so light that I think the sending of this parachute must have been a mistake. Nothing could possibly be this light.

I open it anyway, and I find four slips of paper folded into the sides. When I remove them, I find the first blank. I'm about to toss the other ones out when I see a bit of print on the last one. I practically tear it open, hoping it will give me some amazing nugget of knowledge.

_Hello Aster and Storm. You might remember that before these Games began, we held a little singing competition. You probably recall winning. Well, you two won some very special and influential sponsor: us. We can grant you three wishes: one medicinal, one weapons related, and one random item. You may use these wishes whenever you want. We are sending two more empty parachutes down right now. Use the one this message came in plus the other two to send your wishes back to us. Simply toss them into the air, and your wish will be granted._

_Good luck, and may the odds be ever in your favor. – Sponsors_

Okay. That didn't weird me out at all. The other parachutes fall to the ground beside me, and I check to make sure they're empty. They are. No harm in checking. I sigh and grab the empty parachutes, sticking the three slips of paper in my zippered pocket. That's a handy feature right there, I must say.

When I trudge back into the cave and see Storm laying there, I know I have to use one of our wishes right now. To get him some medicine. He's not going to make it another week with those wounds.

I scribble "medicine for Storm" on one of the slips and quickly stick the paper into a parachute. I toss it into the air and watch it fly away. Nothing to do now but wait. And get breakfast. Gosh, I'm starving!

I'm in the middle of making breakfast when I hear something crack in the woods. I stand apprehensively and move to pick up the knife lying beside my stuff.

The rustling gets louder and louder, and my heart is beating faster and faster when it happens.

A bunny shoots out of the forest. I gasp.

Wait, what? A bunny? Seriously? I was totally expecting Finn to come tearing through those woods, but a bunny? Nope. Never crossed my mind.

"Stay calm. It can probably smell fear," I hear a gravelly voice say. My shock is multiplied when I turn to see that it was Storm talking!

"Dude, you're supposed to be resting! You could have died from that cut on your neck," I emphasize.

"Could have?" he asks, eyebrows raised. "You seem pretty confident I won't die now."

I remember that I haven't gotten to tell him about our surprise sponsors. "Oh, yeah. Remember that singing contest we won? Well, the sponsors are being genies." At his confused look, I chuckle and continue. "They're granting us three wishes, and I just asked for some medicine for you. It should be coming soon, I guess." Oh, that would be bad. If the medicine didn't come. Yeah. I try not to think of the bad possibilities that could happen in this situation.

Lost in a train of thought, I don't notice how drained Storm looks, even now. I snap back into reality to realize that he really can't outlast the other two, not without some help from these sponsors.

I manage to get some food into him before he loses consciousness again.

A beeping noise catches my attention as I eat my own breakfast. Sure enough, the sponsors pulled through and got Storm a vial of medicine. I stab the needle into his arm and empty the vial in one push.

And then I hunt. Because there's only one thing to do when you've just medicated your sick and possibly – more like probably – dying best friend, and that's hunt. Hey, maybe I'll even catch that bunny that scared the snot out of me. That'd be nice.

**Alright, you guys. One day left in the arena. I'm thinking about 2 more chapters, but knowing me, it'll be like 5.**

**Review please! Make my day!**


	33. The Last Battle

**Aw! You guys gave me a warm fuzzy with you sweet reviews! Maybe the story will pick up on THIS chapter… Maybe…**

**DISCLAIMER: No matter what you may think, I am not Suzanne Collins, and I, therefore, have no claim to the canon characters and settings. (Hehe – that totally sounded all official and stuff.)**

_Storm's POV_

I awaken to silence. Now, with my current level of experience in the Hunger Games, silence is never really a good thing. Sure, most people think that silence means that no one has come to kill you, but they might be lurking in the woods, waiting to give you a heart attack that might finish you off anyway. Hey, less dirty work for them.

But silence for me means that Aster is gone, and as I analyze that statement, I come to a couple of conclusions.

She must have gone hunting

We're low on food (the motive for the hunting)

She must have thought it safe enough to leave me alone

I feel a whole lot better

This last conclusion just kind of came to me. As I was pondering Aster's reasons for having left, I realized that my neck no longer hurt or ached like the first time I woke up. I feel… A whole lot better… Heck, I can stand up and walk around, and my legs are okay.

Aster chooses that moment to walk back into our little campsite. Her mouth drops open as she sees me up and moving. My bandages take the opportune moment to just sort of fall off, revealing barely there cuts.

"Hey, what'd you kill? I'm starving."

We cook and eat our meal of squirrel and fish and foliage – actually a rather tasty combo, although it sounds a bit vulgar – and prepare for utter and total war. Well, not really war, but it sure will be utter and total. All of the weapons either go on our persons or in a bag that will be close at hand. The last of the food is packed up in some plastic and stuck into an extra sack. Soon our camp is nothing more than what it was when we got here: a small rock formation near the river bank.

Aster puts words to what I'm thinking. "I can't stand another day in this arena."

I nod, and we're off. I know that in less than twenty-four hours, we'll either be dead, or we'll be victors. Personally, I'm hoping for the latter, but things happen.

"You sure you're up for this?" she asks, and I hear the note in her voice streaked with worry.

"Look, I'm not staying here. I either die, or I don't die. Either way, I'll be getting out of here."

She sighs. "Okay. Let's do this thing then."

We're almost to the Cornucopia when it happens. Something rams into me, knocking me over. My bags go flying as I try desperately to reach for my sword, but in that instant, I realize that the thing – or person, rather – on top of me is not attacking me, but actually escaping something else – something worse.

Finn scrambles up, fear in his eyes. His arm is suddenly pinned to a tree by a knife. He yells in agony, and he jerks the knife out of his arm and pitches it back at Aerogan. Aerogan flings one of his own, and the two knives clash in midair, clattering to the ground.

Finn staggers toward his opponent, not even seeing me as I shield Aster from the eminent disaster. We quickly hide behind some bushes, but I know that Finn saw us. He had to have seen us when he ran into me. We're done for. I can't match his strength in the state I'm in. There's only so much that can heal in one day, even if there are super powerful drugs helping it along. And Aster is too small. Her long range knives can't beat his raw power, and she knows it, too. Finn is our only hope. Maybe they could simultaneously destroy each other, leaving Aster and me victors. But that would never happen, because this is not an action hero movie where almost everything goes right in the end.

The two obviously wounded boys stagger out towards the Cornucopia, and I see a battle coming on. Aerogan has bloodlust in his eyes, and I know Finn will lose his last battle to this monster.

Seeing Finn struggle puts Aster over the edge. She runs out to the field, chucking knife after knife over in Aerogan's direction. A few actually make their mark, too. Oh, but this is bad. I have to go get her and make sure she doesn't kill herself in the process of trying to kill two other guys. I take a spear in one hand and my sword in the other, and I pelt onto the open field.

I fling the spear like a javelin towards Aerogan, but it misses by inches. Aerogan picks up the spear, gives me one last grin, and throws it straight to Finn's heart. I know he's gone in seconds.

Aster's cry of anguish is almost unbearable, but now there's only one person standing between me and sweet sweet victory.

One.

**Cliffhanger! Sorry. Had to. Only 12% battery left in the laptop, and I'm too lazy to grab the charger.**

**Review guys! This is it. It's one of your last chances.**


	34. The Menacing Music with a Scratch in It

**This is it, people. I just got back from a week at the beach – don't murder me – and the Games are coming to an end. Before I don't have any chapters left to do this, I just want to say how encouraging you guys have been. Looking back on this story, it's not the greatest one in the history of the world by a long, long, very long stretch, but you guys still say it's great. So here goes nothing.**

_Storm's POV_

I think Aerogan may be an idiot. Correction – a complete idiot.

Who in their right mind would make Aster Hawthorne mad? Not me, that's for sure. So that's why I come to the conclusion that Aerogan is a complete and total idiot. There. I had to get that out. If Aster and I make it through this last ten – possibly twenty – minutes, I'm totally giving her the I-Told-You-So look.

Speaking of Aerogan, he's eyeing me and Aster with some serious hatred and – wait, is that insanity I see in his eyes? Has to be. He looks to be making for the spear still firmly lodged in Finn's almost dead body. The cannon sounds, and I know he's really gone now.

Aster suddenly stands, grabs her knives, and bolts for the woods. What the heck? She leaving me to the lunatic? I don't think so.

I shake my head to try to clear it, and I focus on my new opponent: Aerogan. He has now successfully jerked the spear of Finn's mangled body. Ew. Actually, mega ew. He's coming for me now. The bloody spear in one hand, and a random piece of metal in the other. He wants to win as badly as I do.

In a collision of apparent thought and motion, he suddenly springs towards me. Oh, snap. My mind kicks in and I'm deflecting his every blow. Left, right, left, left, under, over, left, over, right, left, left, over. He's using the spear as a sword – I told you, he's insane – and he's using the scrap of metal as a shield. He just keeps coming at me, again and again. Honestly, the one thing going through my jumbled up brain is that I can't hold up much longer. He already has gotten the advantage, and he's pushing me up against a tree.

But suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I see a red dot streaking towards us: it's Aster. She has a look of pure fury on her face as she runs silently – oh yes, that's how good she is, she runs silently, you can't even hear her creeping up on you – towards me and Aerogan. I see a knife in her hand. But Aerogan has noticed her, too. I can tell by the change in his moves. He suddenly is not as forceful, as if he is saving all of his energy.

She's almost to us when Aerogan whirls around and puts the spear through her.

Aster's pupils dilate, and then shrink to tiny dots, but she remains standing.

"Now I'll be the victor. I'll be the victor of the – wait, what Hunger Games is this?" he questions, glancing at me with furrowed eyebrows. I bet menacing music is playing on the broadcast at home. Menacing music with a scratch in the recording just big enough for him to ask that question.

Actually, now that he mentions it, I have no idea what Hunger Games I'm participating in.

I shrug. "Does it really matter?"

"Not really," he complies. Scratch is fixed in recording. "But now I will kill you, and I will go home, not a boy, but a true man." He looks up at the sky with wild eyes and a heinous grin. It sends shivers down my spine.

"Not on my watch," a voice says. It's Aster. She has removed the spear from her body, and I watch in awe as she puts the spear all the way through Aerogan's body. A cannon goes off. The freakish smile is still plastered on his face, his eyes still wild with insanity.

It hits me. Aerogan's dead. Aster and I are going home.

I look over to Aster with a smile on my face. We're going home! But as my eyes fall on her, she gives me a little smile and says, "Give my necklace to Daddy. Tell him I love him, and that I'm really sorry that I went to that stupid party." And with that, she falls into my arms.

"No. No, no, no, no, no. You're not dying. You're not going to die. We won, Aster. We won. We won! Let us out! Quick! Please! I'm not leaving without her." I'm shouting at the sky now, a sob almost – almost – escaping my lips. "Stay with me, Aster, stay with me." The only ray of sunshine I see in our situation is that she's not dead – yet. "Please. Please let us go home. Please." My last words are barely audible as I hold Aster in my arms.

A ladder suddenly appears out of the sky, and I run for it, Aster still in my tight grip. I hold onto the ladder with one hand, and I feel the slightly more familiar tingle of the electricity holding us in place, and when we get to the top, medics take Aster away from me, and they give me a glass of orange juice, a soft velvet couch to lay on, and a television so that I can watch the coverage.

Pictures and replays of different parts of the Games are airing, intermixed with Celeste and Diara's talking. They show the Final Battle – as they're calling it – a bunch, and I see the operating room where Aster is shown a few times, and once or twice, they even show me sitting in the little room on the couch with the orange juice that refills itself watching their programming.

A few clips are shown of the other players who are now dead, and of their families' reactions, most of whom are white-faced and shocked. The best part is when they say that Aster is going to live, and they officially name us victors, though they still don't mention what Game number this is.

The last part I watch is of our parents in my house. My mom and Lira, Aster's mom, as crying and hugging each other on our couch in the living room in front of the television. My dad and Gale are looking solemnly at the TV, watching the coverage, though I think I see a smile breaking through on Gale's face when different clips air.

After that, I fall asleep on the couch.

**REVIEW! You only have a few more chapter to do it.**


	35. The Book

**I'm back! School's going to start pretty soon, and I'm determined to finish this story before then. Crazy? Actually, it isn't really. Not this time. I've mostly been pantsing this story – for all of you non-NaNoWriMo people, that means writing a story without an outline, or going by the seat of your pants – and I think I only have maybe this chapter and one more. But never fear, there will be more. Put me on Author Alert to look out for the next installment. And just so you know, the sun WILL come out tomorrow! (Joke from the Tony Awards. Gotta love Neil Patrick Harris.)**

_Storm's POV_

I awaken in a new chair; one where I'm surrounded by people. My foggy memory takes a second to process these people. Oh, yes, my prep team. I look down to find that I've been stripped down to my boxers, and they even changed those, thank goodness. All of the cuts and scars, even the ones I had beforehand are gone from my body. Well that's nifty.

My prep team buzzes around me, chattering endlessly as they get me ready for the crowning. I guess we get our crowns then? I don't know, but they do know that Aster is fine, and that she'll be there, too.

I am dressed in a yellow shirt and some regular black pants as they and Camelia walk me to a platform that I assume will rise me up to the stage. A wall is in between what must be Aster's platform and mine. A crew member gives me a countdown, and I'm rising up to the bright lights of the stage.

Just as my eyes are getting adjusted to the light, I feel something crash into me, almost knocking me over, and red hair is suddenly in my mouth. Aster!

I grab her in a giant bear hug and pick her up and spin her around. She's alright!

I set her down and smile at her. Her grin is a mile wide as I grab her hand. We walk over to the couch they've set slightly off center to balance Celeste's chair.

"Welcome, Storm and Aster of District 12!" Celeste says cheerfully. The audience roars. "We're all so glad to have you back here with us today. You guys suffered a lot out there. Tell me, just how did you guys manage to survive?"

Aster looks at me as if to say, _you take this one._ "Well," I begin, with their being two of us, we could do more without having to worry. Like we took turns keeping watch at night. Aster hunted while I, uh…" I look to Aster. "Really, what did I do?"

"You cooked," Aster laughed. "Mostly at least." She turned back to Celeste. "He was the better fighter of us two."

"It seems you two really benefitted from the Bloodbath on Day 1," Celeste says. "Any thoughts on that?"

Aster's turn. "I mean some of us kind of became friends, but once you're in the Arena, it's time to take people out."

Wow. Harsh.

"Aster," Celeste starts, "you alone killed more players that Storm's parents combined. How did you do it?"

"Uh… I knew how to use the weapons, I guess," she ventures.

"You seems very comfortable with them from the beginning, but after talking with Diara, our Head Gamemaker, it would seem that these weapons have never been on the market. The blueprints were from a weapons designer in District 2."

Aster pauses for a moment to formulate her answer. "Well, that weapons designer was – is, actually – my father. I used to test some of his weapons."

Celeste wisely leaves it at that. "Storm, from some of the footage we learned that you've never seen your parents Games. Why is that?"

"They don't really like to talk about it. Actually, they never talk about it at all. I only learned about it from school, and then they have this really big book that they showed me once or twice."

"What's this book about?" Celeste pries.

"It's about all of the people that were killed in their two Games, and about all of their friends that died in the War."

The screen behind me starts flashing pictures of the players of the 74th and 75th Hunger Games.

"The 74th and 75th Hunger Games had some of the most beloved players in them. Rue and Thresh and Sophie – your mother called her Foxface, Storm – and Cato and your parents, actually were favorites of all of the Games. And then of course, Finnick was the favorite of the 75th." Celeste goes on as if talking about dead people isn't a touchy subject at all. "But, this is the Games that you've won, and now we will watch the recap."

The recap, let me just say, is taragargar. That's my word for terrible garbage. But I was right about the menacing music with a scratch in it. They show that part in detail, and the whole audience laughs when Aerogan asks that question. The worst part is that almost everyone onscreen is dead.

After the three hour recap is over, a golden crown is placed on each of our heads.

"This marks the end of the Hunger Games!" Celeste says in her peppy voice. "We are looking forward to seeing both of you for the Victory Tour in the winter!"

And then it's over.

**Review! Please?**


	36. Reunion And Manhood

**This is it.**

_Storm's POV_

It would seem that everyone is bent on keeping Aster and I separated until we get on that train home. That, right now, is the only thing I'm looking forward to.

_One more time in the makeup chair. One more time putting on ridiculous clothing, and then we're on the train. _That's what I keep telling myself.

The night of the crowning ceremony, we all eat dinner together. We sit at a giant table with tons of food, but they're only five of us – Aster and I plus Camellia and Acada and Merelda.

"We have a surprise for you two!" Camellia practically squeals. Oh, here it comes. They're going to bring out, like, all the heads of the people that Aster and I ruthlessly killed. And the heads are going to be on a platter. A silver platter. With an apple stuck in –

"Dad?" Aster says cautiously. I look up.

There they are. "Mom! Dad!" I yell, running to hug them. I don't care if I'm fifteen. I've been through the Hunger Games, and I wanna freaking see my parents.

"I was so worried about you," Dad whispers in my ear. "I knew you'd pull through, but I was so worried. I know what the Games did to me."

"I'm okay, Dad," I whisper back. "Promise." I hug my mom, and then I see Calla.

"Hey," I smile.

She runs and gives me the biggest hug known to mankind. "I missed you, doofus! You've been gone for like a month and all I get is a 'hey'? Not acceptable."

_Aster's POV_

"Dad?" Am I hallucinating? I look to Storm, but no, he's looking at my dad, too. Dad smiles, and that's all I need. My chair topples over as I race to hug him.

I execute – perfectly, I might add – a flying leap right into my father's outstretched arms. "Daddy," I whisper. "I missed you so much."

"I missed you, too, Little Flower. More than you could ever imagine," he tells me.

"I kept the necklace. I kept it on the whole time. I never took it off, not once, not for anything. With it on, I felt like you were with me the whole time."

_Storm's POV_

After the giant hug-fest, I turn to Aster and her parents. Dinner is so overrated right now.

"We thought you two might want to go home a little bit early, so we arranged for the train to pick you up tonight," Camellia says happily. "I'll miss you, but I'll see you again real soon, okay?" Aster and I both hug her.

"Ready to go?" Dad asks.

"Would you want to get out of a place that gives you horrible memories twenty-four-seven?"

"Let's go," he says, grinning ruefully.

We do nothing but talk the entire train ride home. We laugh, my mom cries, Aster's mom cries, but one thing stuck in my head. Right before we get off of the train, back in District 12, Aster's father taps me on the shoulder.

"Sir?" I ask politely.

"Thank you. For taking care of her," he says sort of gruffly, but I can see the sentiment behind his words.

"To be honest, she took care of me for the most part," I grin.

"But still, you're one of the bravest men I know." Whoah. Look who just graduated to man-hood.

"Thank you, sir." And then he's gone. Just like that.

Never thought I'd be happier to be moving. Well, actually, my family is helping Aster's family move in next door. Exciting, right? She and her family are using one of the four houses our combined families own. Even Haymitch has come over to help. And hey, he's not even drunk!

At the end of the day, I'm lying on Aster's bed, in the middle of her room, and she's lying on the other side of it. "Only five more months until the victory tour," I moan.

"Don't remind me."

"Aw, come on! It'll be an adventure!" I say grinning a bit.

"Trust me, It'll be the same adventure all over again."

_**Epilogue**_

_Aster's POV_

"9:00 a.m. tomorrow at your house, right?" I ask Storm. He's grown two and a half inches in the past four months, and it's almost time for us to go back for our Victory Tour. Yay. What fun.

"Right," he nods. "See you tomorrow."

"Yeah," I yawn. "Tomorrow."

I wake up at eight and get ready for the day. It only takes me forty-five minutes, but I know Storm's up and ready, too.

"Going to Storm's, Mom!" I call to my mother, who is currently reading the paper.

"Mhm," she says, not looking up.

I sprint over to the big house right next-door. I rap my knuckles against the side door, and then I wait a second. Nothing. Wait a second.

"Storm?" I call as I knock again. Still nothing. Okay this is weird. He always opens the door the first time I knock. Oh well, I'll just grab the key they keep under the potted plant next to the door.

I turn the key in the lock and swing the door open wide to see – nothing there.

I run through the house just to make sure. Nothing is there. No furniture, no posters or decorations, and most of all, no people. It looks like they just packed up in the middle of the night and left. But he told me to meet him here tomorrow!

The Capital took him. That's the only explanation.

The Capital stole my best friend.

**Dun dun duh!** **What happened to Storm? What about the Victory Tour? Look out for the sequel to All Over Again: A Hunger Games Story. PM me with your ideas about the next book. I'll try to include everything I get. Love you guys! Bye for now!**

**REVIEW!**


End file.
